Once renowned for sprawling queues and bust ups falling on just one day of the year, Black Friday looks quite different in 2024. Having developed into a month-long campaign for brands with deals starting advertising in the weeks leading up to Black Friday, this event has become a key period in the calendar for most brands. Here, Beyond Corporate’s Georgia Hargreaves discusses why businesses should be careful when advertising their Black Friday deals, looks at previous mistakes made by household brands, and offers her top tips on how to avoid misleading your customers this Black Friday.
With e-commerce becoming ever more integral in our shopping behaviours as consumers, there are increasing concerns from regulators on how brands and retailers are advertising and whether it is being done in a clear and transparent manner.
Why should businesses be concerned about their advertising?
Businesses should take care to ensure that their ads are clear and do not mislead customers on what is being advertised.
The increasing popularity of platforms such as X and TikTok Shop, means content and adverts are becoming shorter and snappier, increasing the pressure on brands to include all significant conditions in a small space. Just because the ads take a more informal format does not mean that the CAP code does not apply. Breaching the Advertising Standards Authority’s CAP code (Committee of Advertising Practice) code can lead to negative publicity and potential fines.
The incoming Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 provides the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) with greater scope of enforcement, including the ability to impose a 10% fine of global turnover of companies who breach consumer law (and not just on Black Friday!)
Pretty Misleading Things?
During their 2023 Black Friday social media campaign, PrettyLittleThing were found to have published several misleading ads. Three main complaints were made, which were all upheld by the ASA, particularly focussing on 15 posts made on the platform, X. The ASA upheld that;
- Certain ads misleadingly implied that promotions applied to all products sold, claiming for example ‘X% Off Everything*’ where the asterix either led to nothing or stated that this promotion excluded beauty and sale;
- The absence of closing dates from ads, and the inclusion of closing dates, when promotional periods were shortened or extended;
- The ads misleadingly implied that further discounts would not be available when promotion ended, when further discounts were later promoted online.
Despite some ads including qualifying information setting out excluded items, this was in small print at the bottom of the ad and failed to meet standards implied by the ASA CAP Code.
This decision demonstrates the importance of clear and transparent advertising, ensuring that significant terms and conditions are displayed.
Businesses should consider whether ads are likely to mislead customers, and how different ads may interact with one another.
Our top tips to avoid misleading adverts:
- Avoid using terms such as ‘Up to’, ‘All’ or ‘Everything’ unless the claim is genuine and can be backed up, the ASA will expect a significant portion of products to be at the stated discount, or that such discount is actually applied to all products sold by your business.
- Avoid artificially inflating prices in the run up to Black Friday: the ASA takes a dim view of ‘yo-yo’ pricing.
- Ensure any claims made in relation to savings are genuine, accurate and not exaggerated.
- Include any significant conditions such as start and end dates, restrictions and availability on the initial marketing piece.
- Assess the response to a previous promotion for similar products, ensure that availability updates are provided where possible, and remember that phrases such as ‘subject to availability’ are not always sufficient.
- Avoid implying that discounts are time-limited or will not be repeated if this is not the case.
Looking beyond the legal risks involved, misleading your customers can lead to damage in trust and the reputation of your business, leaving a sour taste in customers’ mouths come Cyber-Monday!
If you are a business that needs advice on your promotions and advertising, our specialist advertising team can support. Please get in touch with us via [email protected]
