Poland - Misleading information - UOKiK's decisions on advertising
Price, the promotion expiry time, reliable information, the regulations – these constitute the basic information about each contest or special offer. Unfortunately, undertakings often fail to remember this. The Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK) issued three decisions concerning misleading and still conducts 21 proceedings.
Is advertising a good source of information about the products? 71 percent of Poles surveyed last year by Pentor* responded positively. However, there is one condition: the advertisement must provide a reliable information about the product, i.e. it cannot be misleading. Unfortunately, not every undertaking meets these requirements. The recently completed proceedings showed that the rights of consumers using the shopping burgains are not always respected. The President of UOKiK questioned the practices of the following undertakings: One-2-One, the organizer of the TV Competition, E. Wedel, the organizer of promotional lottery of Ptasie mleczko and Aflofarm Fabryka Leków, a producer of e.g. NeoMag dietary supplements.
Annually, the President of UOKiK conducts about 30 proceedings regarding undertakings that mislead the consumers. For the use of such practices there may be imposed financial penalties of up to 10 percent of the undertaking’s income in the previous year
The proceedings against One-2-One were launched in July last year and related to the television competition promoted on the antennas of various stations by the popular actor, acting inter alia in Plebania (Presbytery) series. The basis for action was the newspaper article. The Office examined the lottery regulations, forms of text messages sent to consumers, a list of winners and prizes awarded, as well as TV commercials promoting the competition.
UOKiK’s reservations concerned mainly the messages about the amounts of prizes. The company, urging to send a text message, reported in ads that (...) you are playing to win TV sets, home cinema systems, laptop computers or phones. Then the actor, holding a wad of banknotes, said: PLN 50 thousand, in the opinion of the Office implying that this is the main prize. Meanwhile, in the lottery one could only win a television set, a home cinema, a laptop or a telephone. In addition, the regulations indicated that PLN 50 thousand this is not the main prize, but the sum of all prizes in the contest, whose unit net value was PLN 10.
The President of UOKiK decided that One-2-One has misled the consumers by providing unreliable information about the awards, which the contest participant could win. The fine imposed on the undertaking amounted to PLN 86,047. The company discontinued the challenged practice with the end of the contest.
Another practice, which was challenged by the Office was the incomplete information on the packages of sweets. Reservations of UOKiK were raised by the fact that the packaging of Ptasie Mleczko produced by E. Wedel did not include data on the duration of the promotion. The proceedings were instituted against the company in February, and concerned the lottery Reach for your Piece of Heaven. As the Office has determined, after the competition completion, E. Wedel products informing about the lottery were still in shops. Therefore, the consumer, who had no information about the duration of the promotion, could buy Ptasie Mleczko, and not the product of another manufacturer, in order to participate in the competition. The President of UOKiK imposed on E. Wedel a fine of PLN 72,917. The company discontinued the challenged practice with the expiry of shelf life of Ptasie Mleczko promotional packages.
Furthermore, the Office questioned the information provided during the radio and TV campaign of Aflofarm Fabryka Leków promoting products NeoMag Cardio and NeoMag Forte. The proceedings were instituted against the company in March. UOKiK established that the company advertised their supplements indicating that the person who recommend them holds the title of a professor and also is an expert in the condition of the heart, or nutritionist. In fact, these people did not hold academic titles, they were actors. The President of UOKiK found that the average consumer could trust the advertising of products recommended by a professor authority and on that basis decide to buy the product. For misleading the President of the Office imposed on Aflofarm Fabryka Leków a fine amounting to PLN 80,662. The company discontinued the challenged practice, changing the commercial spots.
Decisions issued in respect of One-2-One, E. Wedel, and Aflofarm Fabryka Leków are not final, because the undertakings may appeal to the court. One-2-One has already exercised the right. Similar view that the campaigns of TV competition and NeoMag products were misleading shared the Advertising Standards Authority (Komisja Etyki Reklamy).
Annually, the President of UOKiK conducts about 30 proceedings regarding undertakings that mislead the consumers. For the use of such practices there may be imposed financial penalties of up to 10 percent of the undertaking’s income in the previous year.
The Office reminds consumers who were misled that in this situation they can seek assistance from the municipal or poviat consumer ombudsmen. In the case of telecommunications services the subscibers can receive support from the Office of Electronic Communications, which deals with solving the disputes of consumers with undertakings by way of mediations, as well before the conciliation court of the President of UKE. Also the Act on combating unfair commercial practices may facilitate pursuing claims. According to the Act, it is the undertaking that should prove providing the consumer with trutfhul, complete and reliable information on grounds of which they could make the right decision.
Read the press release.