K & T Associates
Gresham Hall
Gresham
Norfolk
NR11 8RW Complaint:
Objection to a direct mailing. The envelope bore a handwritten name and address and contained a small card with a yellow sticky note attached. One side of the card stated "Put yourself in the Picture ... Are you in the market for MORE MONEY MORE FREETIME or BOTH?". |
The other side stated "THIS MAY SOUND CRAZY But, if you knew that it was possible to earn £4,000 to £10,000 + per month, and retire in 3 to 5 years - is that the kind of business that YOU would like to hear about, and take a shot at? Call our 24hr information line NOW! ... So what's CRAZIER? Not finding out about the possibility of having more MONEY & FREE TIME or doing the same thing, day in - day out, everyday and expecting a different result!!!". The post-it note, which looked as if it had been handwritten, stated "This is the best thing that ever happened to me Regards T". The complainant objected that the inclusion of the post-it note misleadingly implied someone known to the recipient had sent the mailing. Codes Section: 7.1, 23.1 (Ed 10)
Adjudication:
Complaint upheld
The advertisers said they ran a group of over 3500 agents. They explained that they obtained the names and addresses of recipients in a variety of ways including telephone calls, face-to-face contact, referrals and advertisements. The advertisers said they sent mailings on behalf of agents who had obtained the recipients' agreement to receive information from them, the advertisers travelled around the country doing training seminars and presentations and sent mailings or other information to people who had expressed an interest and ran advertisements in several publications and invited readers to contact them for information. They said it was possible that they may have received permission from the complainant to send him information. The advertisers believed the post-it note did not imply that they knew the recipient; it merely stated that the moneymaking opportunity was the best thing that had happened to "T", one of the advertisers. The Authority considered that the post-it note implied that the mailing had been sent by someone known to recipients of the mailing. Because the advertisers were not always acquainted with recipients, the Authority considered the mailing could mislead. It asked the advertisers not to use the approach in future. |
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