Leisure

Several advertisements from the company’s social media pages stated the following:

“The Official TY Ball 2020 | Oscars Theme Edition”

The complainants, Debsireland.com, considered the advertisements to be deliberately misleading young people into thinking that the advertised event was the established event that TY students go to every year. They said that they, Debsireland.com, had run this event since its inception 15 years previously.

The advertisers failed to provide a response to the complaint.

Complaint Upheld.

The Complaints Committee considered the detail of the complaint and the advertisers’ response. The Complaints Committee expressed concern at the advertisers’ failure to respond to the complaint and that there is an onus on advertisers to ensure that their advertising is in conformity with the Code.

In the absence of a response from The Debs Co, the Committee concluded that the advertisement was in breach of Code sections 3.10, 4.1 4.4 4.9 and 4.10.

ACTION REQUIRED:
The advertisement must not appear in its current form.