Adverts for Nike and Sky have been banned by the regulator for using “dark pattern” tactics designed to lead consumers to unintentionally spend money.
Nike had advertised a shoe at a low price, causing consumers to click through only to find that it was for a children’s size, while Sky did not make it clear that a free trial for Now TV would automatically renew with a charge unless cancelled.
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said both rulings were part of its wider work investigating “online choice architecture” (OCA).
Concerns around OCA include price transparency, hidden fees and “drip pricing”, as well as fake and misleading reviews.
Nike’s advert, which appeared on The Sole Supplier’s X account in December, featured an image of a pair of trainers and the caption “Now just £26 at Nike!”, followed by exploding head and black heart emojis.
The ASA noted there was nothing in the ad to indicate the trainers were intended for older children or that they were available in limited adult sizing, while the caption alongside the emoji reinforced the impression that they were intended for adults.
Nike said the ad was created and published by The Sole Supplier without any input or oversight from it, but it did not believe it was misleading, arguing a reasonable consumer would assume there would be some limitation on the item such as the availability of sizes.
A website for Now TV in December directed consumers to options for buying a subscription, which the ASA investigated over concerns that free trials were automatically added and would auto-renew at a monthly charge unless cancelled.
Sky UK, trading as Now, said a consumer who had selected the membership option would be fully informed they were also adding Cinema and Boost free trials to their basket, and they would auto-renew for a fee.
The ASA said it understood each free trial would automatically renew at a monthly charge unless they were cancelled within the free trial period.
It acknowledged those conditions were stated at the bottom of the two boxes detailing each of the streaming packages, but they were in a smaller font and a less prominent colour, and away from the references to the free trials and below the button to proceed.
A spokesperson for Now said: “At Now, we are committed to providing our customers with a personalised viewing experience. While we believe that the choice ultimately rests with the consumer, we respect the ASA’s decision and will implement necessary changes to our sales process.”
Now added it will trial a new customer membership self-select checkout process this week.
Rocio Concha, from consumer group Which?, said: “Consumers are exposed to a whole range of misleading business practices while online, making it difficult for them to make informed choices about the products and services they buy, so it’s right that the ASA is choosing to act when it spots examples of poor behaviour.”