UAB KOTRYNA FINED FOR MISLEADING ADVERTISING

The Competition Council decided to acknowledge as misleading the advertising statements communicated by SMSs by UAB Kotryna running the following announcement: “We congratulate all mothers and offer a 10 percent discount to children clothes and footwear in KOTRYNA, VAIKŲ MIESTAS, ČIPOLINO and MAŽYLIO PASAULIS stores on May 1-5”. For the use of misleading advertising UAB Kotryna was fined to LTL 3,000.

The investigation was conducted on the basis of an application filed by a customer who had been misled by these advertising statements. From the SMS the applicant received she understood that in the above stores on May 1-5 children’s clothes and footwear will be available at 20 percent discount; however, having arrived to one of the stores she found out that the discount was not available in respect of the clothes that she had selected. The investigation established that the advertising statements communicated by the SMSs on the promotion sale in “Kotryna” trade network was incomplete, therefore it produced a misleading effect upon consumers thus infringing Article 5 of the Law on Advertising. The discount indicated in the advertising statements was applicable to only part of the clothes and footwear in the entire range of the merchandise: it did not concern clothes for babies up to 2 years old, special occasion clothes, shirts and caps.

When establishing the fine for the infringement of the Law on Advertising the Competition Council still considered that the company acknowledged the infringement, besides, the advertising had been communicated for one day only by sending 20,000 SMSs. Although the message to the effect that the discount is available to only a limited range of children's clothes and footwear was posted in the internet website of UAB Kotryna, the consumer should in no way be obligated to additionally check the correctness of the advertising statements.