The encyclopedia · Advertising & PR · Marketing decision · 2026
Hollandsnieuwe's 'doubled, sharper-priced' bundles — the €4.50 lasted only 12 months
Vodafone's Hollandsnieuwe advertised a 40,000 MB bundle at €4.50 a month, but that price applied only to the first 12 months of a 2-year contract. Misleading.
Vodafone · Hollandsnieuwe · 2026-07-29
What happened
Vodafone ran advertising for its mobile brand Hollandsnieuwe claiming 'Alle bundels van Hollandsnieuwe zijn vanaf nu dubbel zo groot en voor een nog scherpere prijs' — all bundles doubled in size at an even sharper price — and that its new 40,000 MB bundle cost only €4.50 per month.
Alongside the SIM the advertising noted the €4.50 rate applied 'Eerste 12 maanden bij een 2-jarig abonnement' — the first 12 months of a 2-year contract. A complainant argued this price condition was not communicated sufficiently clearly with the headline 'kost maar 4,50 euro per maand', which presented €4.50 as the ongoing price.
The College van Beroep found the advertising misleading, holding it in breach of article 7 and article 8.2 (opening words and under d) of the Nederlandse Reclame Code (NRC): the headline price failed to make clear that €4.50 was a temporary introductory rate tied to a 24-month commitment.
The College overturned the lower bodies' decisions only insofar as they had imposed a recommendation, leaving the finding of misleading advertising standing. The complaint itself was upheld.
Why it happened
- A headline monthly price that quietly triples after a year is a price that was never the real monthly price
- Tying the low rate to a 2-year contract buried the actual cost of the deal
- The promotion's 'even sharper price' framing only works if every bundle's real price is shown
The lesson
A teaser price is misleading when the real price is much higher and the condition that raises it sits in fine print. A €4.50-a-month bundle whose rate jumped after a year made its headline bait.
Aftermath
The College van Beroep upheld the complaint about Vodafone's Hollandsnieuwe bundle advertising, finding the '40.000 bundel kost maar 4,50 euro per maand' headline misleading under article 7 and article 8.2 (opening words and d) NRC because the €4.50 rate applied only to the first 12 months of a 2-year subscription and this condition was not made sufficiently clear. The College set aside the lower bodies' recommendation but left the finding of misleading advertising standing. Vodafone was left with a confirmed ruling that its headline price did not reflect what consumers would actually pay.
Sources
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