Biedronka promised '100% back on a voucher' — the voucher bought almost nothing you wanted

Biedronka, Poland's biggest supermarket chain, ran two one-day campaigns in early 2024 — 'Specjalna Środa' and 'Walentynkowa Środa' — advertising a '100% return on a voucher': buy the promoted product and get its value back as a voucher, described as 'free'. The message ran on radio, in the app, on Facebook and in stores, implying shoppers could simply save on whatever they chose next. The vouchers worked differently.

Each voucher was locked to a product category unrelated to what the customer had bought: buying sausages yielded a voucher for fruits and vegetables, chocolate for cosmetics, meat for drinks or sweets. A voucher earned by buying Wedel's ptasie mleczko was valid only on juices, and only with a minimum spend of 25 zloty. One voucher per person; weighted products had return limits. None of this appeared in the advertising — the conditions lived in website regulations, on notice boards usually behind the checkout, and on the voucher itself, after purchase.

On 1 December 2025 UOKiK fined Jeronimo Martins Polska 104,722,016 zloty (decision RBG-5/2025) for intentionally infringing collective consumer interests. President Tomasz Chróstny set the standard: a marketing message must carry the information that matters most to consumers, at the right time, legibly and unambiguously — they should not have to hunt for it. The decision is not final and can be appealed.

Consumers had said it plainly in complaints UOKiK quoted: 'I got the voucher and it turned out to only allow buying laundry detergent.' 'What do tulips have in common with frozen food?'