THE COMPETITION COUNCIL ISSUED A WARNING TO UAB DRUSKININKŲ RASA

The Competition Council resolved to acknowledge the advertising statements running “Buy any type of RASA beverages and win a dream boat“ published by  UAB Druskininkų Rasa in the course of the promotion action „RASA – the best present“ as an instance of misleading advertising.

For the use of misleading advertising UAB Druskininkų Rasa was subjected to an administrative sanction – the company was issued a warning.

The advertising statements published by UAB Druskininkų Rasa (both the statement itself and the grand prize – a boat shown in the ad) could cause consumers to have an impression theywere invited to participate in the promotional game with the grand prize an engine-driven boat Bella 621 DC. However, the winner of the grand prize was awarded a boat with no engine which constituted an infringement of the provisions of the Law on Prohibition of Unfair Business-to-Consumer Commercial Practices and the Law on Advertising of the Republic of Lithuania.

The investigation conducted in this respect allowed a conclusion that an average consumer would normally perceive a boat as a motor-boat. The assessments of the advertising in terms of its presentation lead to the conclusion that the grand prize – the boat – in the ad was shown as an engine boat. Another ad depicted the grand prize showing only the front part of the boat making the engine place invisible. Considering the presentation of the advertising a consumer purchasing the RASA beverages and participating in the promotional action according to its rules was reasonably expecting to be awarded a boat exactly of the type shown in the ad – an engine-driven Bella 621 DC, however, the prize winner was awarded a boat without an engine. Presumably being aware that should he win the prize and willing to use it he would have to incur a significant amount of expense, the consumer might have chosen not to participate in the promotion game and opted for any product of a different brand. It should be noted that an engine is a costly item (from LTL 12,000 to LTL 25,000) therefore it can be assumed that having won a boat with no engine the advertising user would not be able to use it. An average consumer not having any special knowledge and willing to participate in the promotion game and win the grand prize – the Bella 621 DC boat might have been reasonably unaware that ordinarily boats are sold without engines, therefore was justifiably expecting to win the boat exactly of the type shown in the ad. The fact that normally boats are sold without engines is well known only to specialists in the field or persons specifically interested in navigation matters.

When imposing the administrative sanction for the infringement the Competition Council also duly considered that the infringement committed by UAB Druskininkų Rasa did not produce any damage to consumer interests protected by law, and that the value of the boat awarded as a prize was about LTL100,000.