A well-known Portsmouth sales and lettings agency has been reported to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) for its recent £1,000 Facebook fantasy football competition.

The competition offered a £500 prize for the Cup winner and £1000 for the League winner of ROK Marsh‘s 2023/24 Fantasy Premier League.

The ASA complainant believed they were both the Cup and the League winner but when they didn’t receive their prizes, they contacted the ASA questioning whether the promotion breached the ad rules.

The advertiser provided us with written assurance that future promotions would be administered fairly.”

ASA said: “The advertiser provided us with written assurance that future promotions would be administered fairly, and they would award prizes, or reasonable equivalents, normally within 30 days.

“They also explained that they were in touch with the complainant and were trying to sort out the situation. On that basis, we consider the matter informally resolved.”

The Neg is not aware of the full details of how the rules were breached, but social media competitions of this kind are normally covered by the CAP Code (Committee of Advertising Practice).

Advertising rules

CAP advises that: “Promoters are responsible for all stages of a promotion, and regardless of the platform, promotions must be run fairly and marketing communications for the promotion must not mislead.”

And under Rule 8.2, it states that: “Promoters must be seen to deal fairly and honourably with participants and potential participants and must avoid causing unnecessary disappointment.”

The Neg has approached ROK Marsh Ltd for comment but has so far not received a response.