Group-buying website Groupon has been slammed by the advertising watchdog, after being found guilty of leading consumers up the garden path to promote offers.
Five banner ads, including two that promised “all you can eat in London for £3” and “XXL – Bouquet of Flower in London” showing a price tag which stated “from £8” invited consumers to click through.
But when complainants clicked on the ads and were forced to subscribe to the Groupon scheme, the offers had evaporated.
When challenged by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), Groupon claimed the problem lay with its German arm, which created the ads. It said that until the ASA notified it of the complaints, it had not had any involvement in the creation and execution of the campaigns. The company said it recognised it needed to approve banner ads such as those complained about to ensure that the content was relevant.
The ASA said that Groupon had not provided evidence that the offers were available or that they had been taken up by consumers. A spokesman for Groupon said: “This problem arose because our banner ads are produced in Germany, where online regulations differ to the UK. In order to prevent this issue from arising again, all of our ad designers are being trained in the new UK code.”
It said that in the future ads would be specific to the UK market, and their content would reflect whether they related to current, past or upcoming deals.
The ASA ruled that the ads must not appear again in their current form.
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