Unfair commercial practice by giving the false impression that consumer has already won a prize when he first has to incur costs to claim it

ADVERTISING LAW - UNFAIR COMMERCIAL PRACTICES

Unfair commercial practice when giving the false impression that consumer has already won prize, while consumer has to incur (minimal) costs first to claim the prize.

"57. In the light of all the foregoing considerations, the answer to the questions referred is as follows:
– paragraph 31, second indent, of Annex I to the Directive on Unfair Commercial Practices Directive must be interpreted as prohibiting aggressive practices by which traders give the false impression that the consumer has already won a prize, while the taking of any action in relation to claiming that prize, be it requesting information concerning the nature of that prize or taking possession of it, is subject to an obligation on the consumer to pay money or to incur any cost whatsoever;
– it is irrelevant that the cost imposed on the consumer, such as the cost of a stamp, is de minimis compared with the value of the prize or that it does not procure the trader any benefit;
– it is also irrelevant that the trader offers the consumer a number of methods by which he may claim the prize, at least one of which is free of charge, if, according to one or more of the proposed methods, the consumer would incur a cost in order to obtain information on the prize or how to acquire it;
– it is for the national courts to assess the information provided to consumers in the light of recitals 18 and 19 in the preamble to the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive and Article 5(2)(b) thereof, that is to say, by taking into account whether that information is clear and can be understood by the public targeted by the practice"

IPPT20121018, CJEU, Purely Creative

C-428/11 - ECLI:EU:C:2012:651