ASA Adjudication on Minivator Ltd

Background
Minivator Group Ltd was acquired by Handicare Holdings UK Ltd. The ads were placed by Companion Stairlifts Ltd who have a trading relationship with Minivator Ltd now called Handicare Accessibility UK Ltd. Handicare Holdings UK Ltd was not responsible for the ads.

Ad
Magazine and press ads promoted stairlifts.

a. One ad was headed "STAIRLIFTS FROM HELP THE AGED WE WILL" and featured an image of a stairlift. Small print at the bottom of the page stated "Age Concern England and Help the Aged merged on 1st April 2009. Together they have formed Age UK ... 50% of all stairlift profits go directly to the charity. Help the Aged working in partnership with Minivator Group.

b. A second ad was headed "Give yourself a lift" and showed a woman using a stairlift. Under the heading "50 per cent of profits go to help the charity" text stated "By choosing a Minivator stairlift you will not only receive the benefits of a first-rate product, you'll also have the satisfaction of knowing that some of your money (please see profit percentage below) is contributing to towards the vital work Help the Aged does both in the UK and abroad ...".

c. The third ad contained the same text and image as ad (a) but the small print stated " ... 50% of all bath and shower profits go directly to the charity ...".

d. was headed "BATHING AND SHOWERING SOLUTIONS FROM HELP THE AGED WE WILL" and showed a shower and bath. The footnote stated " ... 50% of all bath and shower profits go directly to the charity ...".

Issue
Acorn Mobility Services Ltd challenged whether the claims:

1. "50% of all stairlift profits go directly to the charity" in ad (a);

2. "50 per cent of profits go to help the charity" in ad (b); and

3. " ... 50% of all bath and shower profits go directly to the charity ..." in ads (c) and (d)

were misleading and could be substantiated.

CAP Code
3.17.1
Response
1., 2. & 3.

Minivator Ltd (Minivator) said they had not meant to imply that 50% of all profits went to Help the Aged, but that 50% of profits generated through the brand "Help the Aged We Will" went to the charity. They sent a copy of the licensing contract with Age UK (the new name for Help the Aged) and a breakdown of how expenses were deducted from profits generated through the brand "Help the Aged We Will" and the money paid to Age UK. They said they would amend the ads to make clear that 50% of profits generated through those ads would go to the charity.

In addition, they sent a copy of a letter from an independent auditor that set out the details of the royalty payments Minivator made to Age UK in more detail, clarifying the percentage of gross sales from online sales advertising that went to the charity (excluding VAT and delivery) and explaining that for all other types of lead generation a sum equal to 50% of the gross margin minus specific costs and charges was paid to Age UK. Minivator said that, once expenses were deducted, the actual percentage of profits given to the charity generated through the Age UK advertising was closer to 60%.

Assessment
1., 2. & 3. Upheld

The ASA welcomed Minivators willingness to amend the ads. Moreover, we noted that through the licensing agreement, a significant amount of money was generated for the charity. However, because the ads did not make clear that the figure of 50% related only to profits generated through "Help the Aged We Will" branded advertising (excluding online sales), we concluded the ads were misleading.

Ads (a), (b), (c) and (d) breached CAP Code clauses 3.1 (Substantiation) and 7.1 (Truthfulness).

Action
The ads must not appear again in their current form.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Non-broadcast)