The Drum Awards for Marketing - Extended Deadline

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By The Drum Team, Editorial

June 16, 2010 | 2 min read

A TV advert for car buying company WeBuyAnyCar.com has been censured by the Advertising Standards Authority having received five complaints against it.

Two complains objected that the advert was misleading because it did not state that an administration fee would be charged, while another viewer from Northern Ireland objected to the claim that the company operated ‘throughout the UK’ as there were no branches in Northern Ireland.

The ad, which featured a male newsreader who begins to dance to the brand’s rap song ‘We Buy Any Car.com’ promises that they will buy any car from “from £50 to £100,000.”

The Rochdale-based company said the administration fee depended on the value of the car and the administration fee varied from £49.99 to £74.99 depending on whether the value was under or over £5,000 respectively.

We Buy Any Car also said that it had a brand network of 188 branches across England, Scotland and Wales and that it was in the process of reviewing Northern Ireland as a potential base for later this year.

Clearcast said it had not been informed that an administration charge would be added or that the company’s service was not available in Northern Ireland.

As a result, the ASA upheld the complaints and said that there was no reference to any fee in the advert and that, as a result, the ad was misleading. The same view was taken to the claim that it operated "Throughout the UK".

As a result, the advert has been banned from appearing in its current form.

ASA We Buy Any Car

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