Business

The advertisement took the form of direct mail which was received from the advertisers by post. Large text at the top of the advertisement stated, “POST NOW HAS NO LIMITS”. Further text beneath this stated:

“Digital Stamps are available on the An Post App. Simply write your unique 12 digit code on your envelope and send anywhere in Ireland & now Worldwide! Send anytime, to anywhere using An Post Digital Stamps.”

Further text invited consumers to download the An Post App or to visit the website for more information.

The complainant considered the advert to be misleading as they said that normal physical An Post stamps had no expiry date and therefore could be used to “send anytime”.

However, they said that the An Post Digital Stamps had an expiry of six months from purchase despite the advert claiming that Digital Stamps had “NO LIMITS” and could be used to “Send anytime…”. The complainant said that this was clearly untrue as the An Post Digital Stamps did have limits, and therefore could not be used to “send anytime”, unlike normal physical stamps.

The complainant said that this was a serious omission with the potential to cause loss of funds to consumers who purchased these Digital Stamps in the assumption that they would last like normal stamps. They said that the advert should have clearly stated these limits, however, instead, it stated, “NO LIMITS”.

The advertisers said they rejected the assertion that the advertising was misleading and said that the advertisement made clear that it was referring to Digital Stamps available for purchase on the An Post App. They said it was commonly understood that ‘postage’ was required to be paid in order to avail of a postal service and that it was correct that the Digital Stamp could be used to pay postage.

The advertisers said that the advertisement did not represent the Digital Stamp as being the same as a paper stamp and said that in this instance, the wording “NO LIMITS” highlighted the availability of the Digital Stamp; that ‘postage’ could be purchased even outside of post office/retail typical trading hours. They said the six-month limitation was made very clear in plain simple language at the time of purchase and prior to making purchase in the App.

The advertisers explained that the reason for the six-month use limitation was actually to ensure sufficient regeneration of Codes, which was not required for an adhesive paper stamp. They said that it was not to limit the rights of a digital user in purchasing ‘postage’.

Complaint Upheld.

The Independent Complaints Council considered the detail of the complaint and the advertisers’ response.

The Council noted that Digital Stamps had to be used within six months from the date of purchase before they expired and considered that this was a significant limitation.

The Council noted the commentary that the line “POST NOW HAS NO LIMITS” was made in reference to the possibility of purchasing ‘postage’ outside typical post office and retail hours, however, they did not consider that any context had been provided in the advertising so that consumers would understand the meaning. In the absence of such context, the Council considered that the advertisement had the potential to mislead and was therefore in breach of sections 4.01, 4.04, 4.09 and 4.10 of the Code.

ACTION REQUIRED:

The advertisement must not reappear in its current form.