Soul & Spirit Magazine - 2 Free DVDs not included

Since I'm banned* from submitting complaints about psychics to the ASA at the moment, it was only the promise of "2 FREE DVDs WORTH £10!" that persuaded me to part with £3.50 to buy Soul & Spirit Magazine.

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Imagine my disappointment, dear reader, when the magazine contained a grand total of no DVDs!

In fact, the 'free' DVDs are only available by post - and it'll cost you £2.24 in postage.

I think this is misleading - and a recent ASA adjudication lends some credence to my opinion. Let's see what they have to say about this complaint!

"I write to complain about the magazine "Soul & Spirit" (May 2010, Issue 28).

I suspect that the magazine may be in breach of three sections of the British Code of Advertising, Sales Promotion and Direct Marketing (CAP) code.

I can provide an original copy of the magazine by post, if required. I have enclosed scans of the brochure, and a further scan of the magazine and the brochure, aligned as they would be inside the plastic wrapping.

1. The May 2010 issue of the magazine is distributed together with a larger brochure promoting a set of DVDs.

2. The two items - the magazine and the larger brochure - are tightly wrapped in plastic, so that the magazine obscures most of the brochure. When looking at the front cover of the magazine, the only text visible at the top of the brochure reads "2 FREE* DVDS WORTH £10**".

3. Since the two items are wrapped tightly together, I argue that the text "2 FREE* DVDS WORTH £10**" constitutes a "Front page flash" under Section 36.1 of the CAP code.

4. The CAP Code, Section 7.1, states "No marketing communication should mislead, or be likely to mislead, by inaccuracy, ambiguity, exaggeration, omission or otherwise."

5. Under Section 7.1, I challenge whether the front page flash is misleading by implying that the magazine contains two DVDs when, in fact, it does not. Specifically:

(i) No part of the visible text clarifies that the DVDs are not included in the magazine (the ASA ajudication of 7th April 2010, Ref 115291, addressed this very matter)

(ii) The plastic wrapping adds to the impression that the magazine contains the DVDs

(iii) The text on the brochure which states "*postage charge applies", the text which states "**combined value of both gifts" and the larger text which states "for every Soul & Spirit reader" is obscured by the top of the magazine.

6. The CAP Code, Section 27.4, states "Promoters should avoid causing unnecessary disappointment."

7. Under Section 27.4, I complain that I, personally, was disappointed having bought a copy of the magazine, expecting it to contain two free DVDs worth £10.

8. I challenge whether the magazine's front page flash is in breach of Section 27.4.

9. The CAP Code, Section 36.1, states "...Major conditions that might reasonably influence consumers significantly in their decision to buy the publication should appear on the front page or cover"

10. Under Section 36.1, I challenge whether a major condition that might reasonably influence consumers significantly in their decision to buy the magazine, namely that the magazine did not contain free DVDs, has appeared on the front page or cover of the magazine.

11. I confirm that I have no connections with the magazine, and I am not involved in legal proceedings with the magazine."

(*With my blessing - the ASA have been besieged with complaints about "accurate" clairvoyants, the majority of them written by me, and - not unreasonably - they want to put the kettle on, put their feet up, and have a jolly good think about what to do next.)

*Soul and Spirit Magazine - awash with accuracy

The "Spirit Guide" section of Soul and Spirit magazine contains numerous adverts for psychics who claim to be "accurate".

UPDATE, 30th Jun: The ASA Council's adjudication has upheld my complaint about Livelines Uk Ltd aka "Trusted Psychics".

UPDATE, 16th Jun: The ASA Council's adjudication has upheld my complaint about Innershanti aka "Prajbot".

UPDATE, 6th Apr: The ASA report "...we've been looking into your complaints against ads in...Soul and Spirit...magazine. You may or may not know we've previously investigated and upheld complaints against these types of issues, I've therefore passed the cases to our Compliance team, which will follow it up."

UPDATE, 28 Apr: About the Tony Hyland advert, the ASA report "...it appears you have a valid point...with a view to acting quickly, we have instructed Tony Hyland to change his ad. We have asked them to remove all reference to the accuracy of readings..."

UPDATE, 1 May: About the Rebecca Emanuel ad, ASA say "She has given us her assurance that she will remove the claim 'for accurate clairvoyancy' and will not use it again'"

UPDATE, 7 May: About the 'Joanne' ad, ASA say "She has given us a formal assurance that she will not use the word 'accuracy' or similar words in her advertising.'

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I'm certainly not going to write a writty emark about each one of them - the ASA are so much better at it, anyway.

(The adverts are available to view here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here.)

"I write to complain about a series of adverts in the "Spirit Guide" (classified advert) section of “Soul and Spirit” magazine (April 2010, pages 90-95).

Each of the adverts promotes a telephone psychic reading service and makes an explicit claim of accuracy, which I suspect would be in breach of Sections 3.1 of the CAP Code.

A handful of them use testimonials, which I suspect may be in breach of Sections 14.1 and 14.3 of the CAP Code.

To avoid submitting the same scans several times, I have arranged the adverts here into a single complaint. I am prepared to re-submit individual complaints about each advert, if necessary. I can provide an original copy of the pages by post, if required.

PAGE 90 (top) - "angel wishing moon" (0808 156 6464)

1. Under Section 3.1, I challenge the phrase "Phenomenally accurate clairvoyant mediums..."

PAGE 90 (top) - "Psychic Proof" (www.psychicproof.com)

2. Under Section 3.1, I challenge the phrase "Psychic proof - the Proof Is In The Reading"

PAGE 91 (top) - Anita Therese (01785 247584)

3. Under Section 3.1, I challenge the phrase "...accurate guidance..."

PAGE 91 (top) - Joanne (01389 388426)

4. Under Section 3.1, I challenge the phrase "...renowned for accuracy..."

PAGE 91 (top) - Maria (01424 447855)

5. Under Section 3.1, I challenge the phrase "...Very Accurate Readings"

PAGE 91 (top) - Eve (www.cosmicvibes.co.uk)

6. Under Section 3.1, I challenge the phrase "For a[n]...accurate reading"

PAGE 91 (top) - Lee (0800 121 6820)

7. Under Section 3.1, I challenge the phrase "...with accuracy and detail..."

PAGE 91 (middle) - "Alison's Straight Talk Psychic Services" (www.straighttalkpsychics.com)

8. Under Section 3.1, I challenge the phrase "Excellent accuracy"

PAGE 91 (middle) - "Mary Jane" (01259 720627)

9. Under Section 3.1, I challenge the phrase "...give clear accurate in-depth readings"

PAGE 91 (middle) - "Gail Keenan" (www.gailkeenan.co.uk)

10. Under Section 3.1, I challenge the phrase "Accurate Readings"

PAGE 92 (middle) - "Prabjot" (www.innershanti.com)

11. Under Section 3.1, I challenge the phrase "Accurate...readings"

PAGE 92 (bottom) - "Psychic Sense" (0207 022 4971)

12. Under Sections 3.1, 14.1 and 14.3, I challenge the phrase "...very accurate"

PAGE 93 (top) - "Tony Hyland" (www.tonyhyland.com)

13. Under Section 3.1, I challenge the phrase "the most accurate reading you will ever receive"

PAGE 93 (bottom) - "Psychic Realm" (www.thepsychicrealm.co.uk)

14. Under Section 3.1, 14.1 and 14.3, I challenge the phrase "her team of readers are astonishingly accurate"

15. Under Section 14.1, I challenge whether the advertiser holds signed and dated proof, including a contact address, for the testimonials used.

PAGE 94 (top) - "Susan Angel" (www.angeltarotguidance.com)

16. Under Section 3.1, I challenge the phrase "My readings are...accurate"

PAGE 94 (bottom) - "Trusted Psychics" (0906 368 0005)

17. Under Section 3.1, I challenge the phrase "We give amazingly accurate personal readings..."

PAGE 95 (top) - "Rebecca Emanuel" (01639 830670)

18. Under Section 3.1, I challenge the phrase "for accurate clairvoyancy"

PAGE 95 (medium) - "Eternal Triangle" (www.eternaltriangle.co.uk)

19. Under Section 14.1, I challenge whether the advertiser holds signed and dated proof, including a contact address, for the testimonial used.

20. I confirm that I have no connections with the advertisers, with the magazine, or with the publishing industry in general. I confirm that I am not involved in legal proceedings with the advertisers or the magazine.

21. I confirm that I am happy to be identified as the complainant."