Marketing Matters: Review of March 2025

Welcome to this month's edition of Marketing Matters, where we look at advertising and marketing (A&M) trends in the retail and consumer sector.

We will be looking at:

• Some of the key takeaways for A&M departments following March's ASA rulings.
• Other top ASA stories.
• CMA news for the same period.

ASA rulings – key takeaways for your A&M departments

In March, the ASA handed down 12 rulings. We have highlighted some of the key rulings we think you and your A&M departments should be aware of.

Non-optional fees

A fast-food giant ran three ads, in October and November 2024, relating to a '£5 Meal Deal' and a 'Feed the Family Offer'. The meal deal advertisement featured as a TV ad and on the retailer's app. The deal offered a choice of burger, fries, four nuggets and a drink. The image of the four nuggets appeared with the text 'BONUS SIDE'. The family saver offer only appeared on the retailers app, featuring text which read "Feed the Family Deal for £14.99," with smaller text above that which stated "Delivery Only".

The ASA received one complaint in respect of each ad. One complainant, who understood that the base items included in the "£5 Meal Deal" cost less than £5, challenged whether the “bonus side” claim was misleading as the ad implied that the nuggets were free. The second complaint challenged whether the price statement in the ad for the family saver deal was misleading, because the price of £14.99 did not include the unavoidable delivery and service fees.

The company responded to each complaint as follows:

• In relation to the £5 meal deal, they explained that the four nuggets could not be purchased separately on their usual menu (as the smallest portion offered on the full menu was a portion of six nuggets). Additionally, they noted that customers generally understood the term 'meal deal' to include three items consisting of a main, side and a drink. Other meal savers on the retailers menu also only consisted of three items. The company referred to the Collins English Dictionary definition of 'bonus' as "something good that you get in addition to something else, and which you would not usually expect". They used the word "bonus" to indicate the unexpected second side in the meal deal bundle, being the unavailable four nugget option.

• In relation to the family saver offer, the retailer acknowledged that the delivery charges varied across the country and could not be calculated in advance. These factors hinged on certain special offers and the customer's address. They made clear that the app clarified at each ordering stage that delivery charges applied. The page also featured a "View terms of this offer" hyperlink. When followed, it included the text "Delivery price uplift and fees apply."

The ASA held that the ad, featuring on TV and the retailers app, did not breach the CAP Code. Both ads included text which highlighted that the nuggets were a 'bonus side'. Based on the prominence and order in which the claims and imagery were presented, the ASA considered that viewers would understand that the Meal Deal included all four items as part of the bundled meal. Customers would understand that the claim "bonus side" related to the Meal Deal including two sides instead of one and would not expect that the four nuggets were free. Additionally, next to the “Five Pound Meal Deal” name on the menu, an image showed a glass of Coca-Cola, medium fries, four nuggets and a dip, underneath which was a plus sign. On that basis, the "bonus side" claim was not considered misleading.

In respect of the family saver offer, the ASA's ruling was very different. The CAP Code requires quoted prices to include non-optional fees which apply to most buyers. If these fees cannot be calculated in advance, the marketing communication must make clear it was excluded from the price and state how it was calculated. The ASA emphasised that information about additional fees and delivery charges were likely to impact consumers' decisions. They acknowledged that the words "Delivery price uplift and fees apply" appeared in the hyperlinked text however, that information was not stated in the initial ad nor did it clarify how the costs and service fee were calculated. App users were not presented with the statement that the subtotal did not include delivery fees and that additional fees may apply at checkout until they had made their selections of the items available in the "Feed the Family Deal".

The ASA ruled that the ad for the family saver offer was misleading. It failed to make clear that a service fee was excluded from the quoted price and should have made clear that a delivery charge was payable.

False accreditation

An organisation providing counselling services in the UK claimed that a specific named individual was "a BACP qualified, trained and experienced counsellor", on their website. The British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy ("BACP") reached out to the ASA to confirm that the named individual was not a member of the BACP and noted that they did not provide training courses or qualifications.

The organisation had intended to remove the claim but has struggled to gain access to their website to do so. The ASA considered that consumers would interpret the claim to mean that the named practitioner was accredited by the BACP and that they had received training and qualifications from the professional body. As the BACP did not provide training courses or issue qualifications, the ASA understood these to be false claims and that the named individual was not even a member of the professional body. The ASA concluded that the ad, on the organisation's website, was misleading and had breached the Code in relation to endorsements and testimonials.

Takeaways

The key takeaways from the ASA rulings this month are:

• Include all fees in the headline price: Where a fee is unavoidable, it must be included in the headline price and clarify how the fee is to be calculated. The principal applies regardless of whether the specific fee is unknown, as it is a significant piece of information required for consumers to make an informed decision about their purchase.
• Don't make false accreditation claims: Be careful whenmentioning specific professional bodies and accredited qualifications and/or training. Make sure the claims are true and accurate before publishing ads.

Top ASA stories last month

Updated guidance – to make sure ads don't offend

Although only a small proportion of complaints received by the ASA relate to offensive advertisements, the reputational damage, media coverage and criticism they receive is significant. The ASA has, therefore, released updated guidance with an aim to support marketers to ensure their ads do not offend.

In the newly released guidance published on 27 March 2025, the ASA noted that compliance will be judged on the context, medium, audience, product and prevailing standards. Ads must not contain anything that is likely to cause serious or widespread offence and will be judged / investigated on an individual basis.

Advertisers are told:

1. To take special care if depicting or referring to protected characteristics, which include disability, religion, sexual orientation and gender identity. Crucially, the ASA has emphasised likely developments in the depiction of older people in ads, following its publication in December 2024.

• Some expletives included, or indirectly referenced to, in ads are likely to fall foul of the Code. Whilst milder swear words may be acceptable, the example given by the ASA being 'what the fudge…?', additional attention should be taken to mitigate language risks.

• The topic of death nearly always generates complaints, regardless of how sensitively it is handled. Extra care should be taken in this area.

• Nudity in advertisements always attracts attention and marketers should ensure it is only to the degree necessary (i.e. if advertising a related product). Over-egging or overly sexualising/objectifying are almost never acceptable under the Code.

• Gender stereotypes may have a harmful consequence for individuals and for society, and must not be included if they are likely to cause harm, or serious or widespread offence. Advertisers are encouraged to review the additional guidance available relating to gender stereotypes.

• Depicting racial and ethnic stereotyping in ads is likely to contribute to real-world harms and almost never acceptable under the Code or in the eyes of the ASA. Marketers are encouraged to review the additional guidance available in this area before featuring stereotypical depictions in ads.

CMA activity in March

Progress and updates on the CMA's investigation into Ticketmaster

On 25 March 2025 the CMA provided a progress update on its investigation into Ticketmaster following widespread complaints about the sale of Oasis' concert tickets. A formal investigation has been conducted and the CMA is now actively consulting with the ticketing platform to implement changes to ensure consumers receive the right information.

The investigation was launched following thousands of complaints and concern that Ticketmaster (which sold over 900,000 Oasis tickets) may have breached consumer protection laws. The breaches related to:

• Labelling particular tickets as 'platinum' and selling them for 250% more than the price of equivalent standard tickets, without providing sufficient information that explained they did not offer any additional benefits and often located in the same area as the standard tickets.

• Not informing customers that there were two different categories of standing tickets, available at different prices. The platform sold all the cheaper standing tickets first, before releasing the more expensive standing tickets. This meant that fans were waiting in long queues without understanding what they would be paying for.

The investigation conducted by the CMA did not find evidence that Ticketmaster had used an algorithmic pricing model, which would have adjusted prices in real time according to high demand, as many fans had initially thought. The company instead released cheaper tickets first, once these had sold out, they released the remaining tickets at a much higher price.

Following the investigation, Ticketmaster has implemented change to some aspects of its ticket sales process. The CMA does not currently consider these changes to be sufficient to address its concerns for consumer protection, providing the platform with details of additional steps to be taken.

The CMA's full update can be found here.