Advertising watchdog bans 'misleading' Butlin's advert
Will PayneThe Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has ordered Butlin’s to remove an advert from its Facebook page which it deemed would "likely mislead" customers.
The post, seen on 12 October 2022, stated: "Staying at home for four days of fun could cost at least four times as much money as a family break at Butlin’s."
Two columns were headlined "staying at home v a family break at Butlin’s", with the first column listing various activities outside of Butlin’s and their price.
The second column claimed entertainment across four indoor venues, swimming, access to the soft play area, rides in the fairground and access to a pantomime show at Butlin’s were all included in the price.
The column continued: “Total from £49, the cost for a Showtime Midweek break based on a family of four, which includes all the above activities plus four nights’ accommodation."
The complainant, who understood Butlin’s charged considerably more than £49 for a family of four during school holidays when most families would be able to access a four-day break, challenged whether the ad was misleading.
In response, Butlin’s explained the breaks were a specific, term-time only break type, and believed the ad made it clear that the £49 price related to midweek term-time breaks.
They pointed out that the ad made no reference to school holidays and that "midweek" appeared in the logo and the main body of the ad, rather than being hidden in the terms and conditions.
However, the ASA considered the highlighted activities such as the theatre, the pool and pantomime would be seen as appealing to families in general, including school-aged children as well as pre-schoolers.
The ad referred to a family of four with no mention of the children’s ages, and consumers would therefore understand from the ad that they could book a family break for school-aged children at £49.
"We understood that ’showtime breaks’ was the terminology used by Butlin’s to describe their term-time only breaks; however, we considered that consumers were unlikely to have been familiar with that terminology," it said.
"The ad must not appear again in the form complained of. We told Butlin’s to make clear in future advertising for Showtime Breaks that ’from’ prices referred to midweek, term-time breaks only and therefore excluded school holidays."
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Place of registration: England and Wales.
Company number 08723341.
Registered address: 6th Floor, 2 London Wall Place, London EC2Y 5AU
