The encyclopedia · Advertising & PR · Marketing decision · 2022
Collab House giveaway banned — follow-list moved, and no winner was ever announced
Collab House's 'follow everyone' giveaway — the list kept moving mid-promotion, and the prizes were never announced as won.
Collab House · 2022-09
What happened
Two Instagram posts on 27 April and 3 May 2022 advertised Collab House Giveaways competitions with prize bundles including a Dyson hairdryer. Entry required following @collabhousegiveaways and 'EVERYONE THEY ARE FOLLOWING', tagging a friend and sharing on stories for a bonus entry, with winners promised on 8 May and 15 May.
A complainant said the accounts followed by @collabhousegiveaways changed during the promotion period, and that the winners were never announced and prizes never awarded. Collab House Giveaways did not respond to the ASA's enquiries.
On 21 September 2022 the ASA upheld the complaint. Changing the follow list during the promotion breached rules 8.2 and 8.14, and failing to announce winners or award prizes breached rules 8.2, 8.15.1 and 8.28.5. The advertiser's unreasonable delay in responding was itself a breach of rule 1.7.
Why it happened
- The follow-list changed during the promotion — an entry requirement entrants could never satisfy on the terms advertised.
- No winner was ever announced and no prize ever awarded — a giveaway that ends nowhere is advertising without the prize.
- Collab House didn't respond to the ASA at all — silence turned one complaint into a full ban.
- A follow-everyone entry rule is only fair if the list is stable and visible.
The lesson
A giveaway that never announces a winner is a broken promise: Collab House changed its follow-list mid-promotion and never said who won — the ASA banned both practices.
Aftermath
The ASA told Collab House Giveaways not to run the promotion again and to ensure winners were announced and prizes awarded.
Sources
spotted an error? The club wants to know.
More like this
Disney's Predator: Badlands poster was banned for showing a severed body
Qatar Airways' 'Travel consciously' carbon-offset claims were ruled misleading
Simplicity Cremations' 'funeral plan' ads hid that no one attends the cremation
Somewhere, someone solved the problem this company failed at. 2nd Opinion →
Comments · 0
Sign in to join the comments.