THE ADVERTISING STATEMENT "BUY GOODS FOR LTL 250 AND WE WILL AWARD YOU WITH 50 GOLDEN LITAS” RECOGNISED AS MISLEADING

The Competition Council passed the Resolution concerning the compliance of an advertising statement published by UAB Kornas with the requirements of Article 5 of the Law on Advertising. The advertising statement published by the company and running "Perkant prekių už 25 Lt dovanojame 50 aukso litų” (“Buy goods for LTL 250 and we will award you with 50 golden litas”) was recognised to be misleading advertising and the advertising provider UAB Kornas was subjected to a fine of LTL 3,000 for the infringement of the Law on Advertising. The company was also obligated to cease the use of misleading claims, i.e., terminate the use of the advertising statements that have been recognised misleading, where such actions were still continued.

The investigation by the Competition Council was initiated on the basis of the complaint received from a consumer. The consumer indicated that in the store “Aukso centras” she purchased a set of spoons for LTL 3,610. However, although an advertising poster in the store claimed “Buy goods for LTL 250 and we will award you with 50 golden litas” on the purchase day the buyer was not awarded with a single golden litas. Upon her inquiry, the sales assistant explained that for the purchase she made she was entitled to 2 coupons of 50 golden litas each.

Having assessed the findings of the investigation the Competition Council concluded that the advertising statement “Buy goods for LTL 250 and we will award you with 50 golden litas” published in the posters of UAB Kornas was incorrect and could mislead consumers and affect their economic behaviour when selecting the jewelry sales outlet, as UAB Kornas failed to provide any evidence supporting the truthfulness of every meaning in which the statement could have been understood by advertising consumers.

UAB Kornas is engaged in sales of jewelry articles through its stores “Aukso centras”.

In the opinion of the Competition Council since no additional information was placed on the posters next to the advertising statement “Buy goods for LTL 250 and we will award you with 50 golden litas” (the additional information on the terms of the promotion action was published in the internet website and on the backside of the coupons), an average consumer being sufficiently informed and prudently cautious could have understood the advertising statement in several meanings.

First, having read the information published on the posters the consumer could expect that for a purchase of any amount in excess of LTL 250, irrespective of the number of items purchased, he will be given only one coupon of 50 golden litas. The consumer could get that impression from the plural form of "goods" as used in the advertising statement.

Also, a consumer could get an impression that irrespective of the number of the goods purchased or a specific price of an individual item, for each LTL 250 he will be awarded an additional coupon of LTL 50, i.e., for a purchase of LTL 1,000 – 4 coupons 50 golden litas each (total 200 golden litas). Such a conclusion may be drawn as, in the absence of any additional information, an average consumer could have understood that the stores referred to the currently widely used model of trade practice where for each purchase of an established minimum amount the buyer is given an additional monetary equivalent used in a specific brand store.

Also a consumer could reasonably expect that upon buying several items the price of each of which would be in excess of LTL 250, he would be given several coupons each worth 50 golden litas.

Having assessed that due to a very unspecific character of the advertising statement “Buy goods for LTL 250 and we will award you with 50 golden litas” an average consumer could have understood the statement in several meanings, the advertising provider UAB Kornas was supposed to provide to the Competition Council the evidence that at the time of the publication of the statement was correct in each of the meaning that it could have been perceived by an average consumer. As the advertising provider failed to produce the evidence supporting the correctness of each possible meaning of the statement, the Competition Council arrived at the conclusion that the statement in question could mislead consumers and affect their economic behaviour.

When establishing the amount of the fine for the infringement of the Law on Advertising the Competition Council took due account of the duration of the infringement (the advertising was published on 1-31 December 2008), although its scale was minor (the advertising statements upon the initiative of UAB Kornas were posted in 16 "Aukso centras" stores), and UAB Kornas did not contest the findings of the Competition Council.