MTN in hot water with ASA again

Advertising Standards Authority of South Africa rules that MTN was in breach of advertising code with birthday SMS competition

MTN launched an SMS competition to celebrate its 15 year anniversary in late April, offering a variety of prizes including a House Bond Account from FNB valued at R1-million.  According to MTN the competition was skills-based and requires participants to answer multiple choice questions testing their general knowledge.

This competition came under fire from various quarters, including consumers who lashed out at the price of the competition SMSs.  In July The National Lotteries Board found that MTN’s Birthday SMS Competition was in contravention of the Lotteries Act, and according to Sershan Naidoo, spokesperson for the National Lotteries Board, the cellular provider was informed about this decision.

There were further allegations that the MTN’s SMS competition may have been rigged with “winners who have walked away with a Toyota Fortuner knew exactly how many SMSes they needed to send to win the vehicle.”

The competition started on 30 April and was supposed to run over 15 weeks and finish on 9 September, but MTN decided to stop the competition prematurely saying that the debate surrounding the initiative was not in line with MTN’s values and detracted from the planned spirit of the game.

MTN’s woes regarding the competition are however not over yet.  The Advertising Standards Authority of South Africa (ASA) recently ruled that MTN was in breach of the ASA advertising code by not adequately informing competition entrants that multiple SMSs charged at R 7.50 were needed to enter the competition.

The complainants essentially said that the MTN advertisements stated that it costs R7.50 to enter the competition, but once the first SMS is sent at R7.50 you are required to answer a number of questions - each charged at R7.50 - before you are entered for a chance to win one of the prizes.

MTN is no stranger to ASA complaints, and the Authority said that MTN “knew, or ought to have known, that the competition constituted an advertisement and should have ensured that it complies with the Code.”

“By its own admission, entrants were only warned of the rising cost of the SMS’s after they had spent R195.00 (on the 26th SMS), but were not stopped at that stage because their chances of winning the main prizes were dependant on multiple entries,” the ASA said.

The advertising complaint against MTN was upheld, and the complainants now have the chance to comment on whether sanctions against MTN are appropriate.

MTN SMS competition - comments and views

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