Conditions of ‘retweet to win’ competitions must be made clear, ASA rules
The ASA has ruled that a ‘retweet to win’ Twitter competition by Pet Plan broke the code for failing to make terms and conditions clear.
Pet Plan said that there were no terms and conditions for the competition, with the text for the competition reading "To celebrate #petdentalcare month we are giving away 10 goodie bags filled full of dental treats. Follow and RT to win!" #competition".
The company said it had template terms and conditions for use in their promotions and, having received the complaint, it had reiterated internally the need to ensure it was properly implemented when running a prize promotion via social media.
The ASA ruled that noted that all applicable significant conditions for promotions should be communicated before or at the time of entry, and that consumers could enter, by retweeting the message, once they had seen the tweet.
The body said: “We therefore considered all applicable significant conditions, such as the closing date and how winners would be selected, should have been made clear before or in the tweet that included details of how to enter, which was also a significant condition. Because that was not the case, and because participants were not able to retain conditions or easily access them throughout the promotion, we concluded that the ad breached the Code.”