A TV ad created by FCB London told viewers that the next day's Daily Mail would include a DVD of the film 'A Handful of Dust'. The voiceover ran: "Free inside your Daily Mail tomorrow, a £15.99 DVD of the glorious movie 'A Handful of Dust' worth £15.99. It's absolutely free inside tomorrow's Daily Mail."
One person complained to the Advertising Standards Authority that it was wrong to claim the DVD was worth £15.99 because the one with the newspaper didn't include the same material as the one available in shops. It lacked commentaries, trailers and biographies.
The Daily Mail argued that the value of a DVD was entirely in the film and not in any additional material it contained. FCB also argued the claim was not misleading and added that the additional material could not be purchased separately.
In addition, the Broadcast Advertising Clearance Centre disagreed that the ad was misleading and said the fact the shop-bought DVD had extra features was irrelevant.
The ASA upheld the complaint and said the claim was misleading.
However, it said this was regardless of whether the free DVD contained the extras offered by a shop-bought DVD.
"Because the DVD offered by the Daily Mail had never been sold, and was solely available via its own promotion, we considered that it was misleading to attach a cash value to it," it said.
If you have an opinion on this or any other issue raised on Brand Republic, join the debate in the .
_1.jpg)
.jpg)
