Rattan Hut's spin-to-win 'free' prize ads broke the UK's free-principle rule

Garden furniture retailer Rattan Hut (AOS Trading Ltd) advertised a 'free' garden furniture prize across an email, its website and a paid-for social media post. The website featured a wheel customers could 'spin' to win: 'HURRAY! YOU HAVE WON A FREE EGG CHAIR', followed by a voucher code to apply at basket. The email offered a choice of a free egg chair worth £395.98, a free premium cover set worth £199.99, or a £150-off voucher. The paid social post showed a parasol set with the price £699.99 struck through and the word 'FREE' underneath.

In reality, customers had to spend a minimum order value on other Rattan Hut products to claim any of the prizes. Complainants told the ASA the ads were misleading, and the regulator upheld the complaints: under the CAP Code's 'free principle' (rule 3.23), a product cannot be described as free if the customer must pay anything beyond responding and delivery. The ads breached rules 3.1 and 3.3 (misleading advertising) as well as 3.23.

The ASA added a second breach: Rattan Hut had simply not responded to enquiries, which broke rule 1.7 on unreasonable delay. The regulator reminded the company of its responsibility to engage promptly.

The ruling, dated 6 September 2023, required the ads to be removed or amended.

The ads had to be removed or amended; the ASA also flagged the retailer's non-response and disregard for the CAP Code.

The spin-to-win wheel framed a conditional discount as a prize already won, which made the minimum spend feel like a technicality.

Running the same 'free' claim across email, website and paid social multiplied the exposures instead of correcting the claim.

Ignoring the ASA's enquiries turned a fixable claim problem into a demonstrated disregard for the code.

'Free' means free: if claiming a prize requires spending money on anything else, the ad breaches the CAP Code's free principle — and ignoring the regulator makes it worse.

The ads had to be removed or amended, and the ASA publicly reminded Rattan Hut of its duty to respond promptly to enquiries. The ruling was written up by Osborne Clarke's marketing law team on 31 October 2023.