Jeremy Stern, managing director of independent promotional verification company PromoVeritas, thought the claim 'Win instantly with this pack' was misleading, because he believed the packaging revealed a promotional code only, and buyers were required to enter that code into an online form and then wait for the results of a prize draw.
Bic argued that it was a genuine instant win promotion and it had had the material checked by a lawyer.
Bic said that on entering the code into the online form, customers were given the result instantly and did not have to wait for a draw.
However, the Advertising Standards Authority concluded that it was misleading to use the claim "instant win" because consumers could not find out whether they were winners simply by opening the packaging, which is what the offer appeared to suggest.
Stern told Brand Republic that he thought Bic was acting in good faith but should have been more aware of compliance issues around running promotions.
"It was a simple mistake that runs the risk of giving the industry a bad name," he said.
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