Case could change face of advertising

Advertising Standards Authority welcomes guilty verdict in Air New Zealand case


There could be changes in the way the Advertising Standards Authority views complaints about small print, following the Air New Zealand case.

The airline has been found guilty this week of breaching the Fair Trading Act with a series of ads which ran from 2001 to 2004 which failed to reveal the full price of fares and extra charges.

Executive Director of the Advertising Standards Authority Helen Souter is welcoming the ruling.

She says the clarification will help them deal with a growing number of complaints about small print in ads.

She hopes the guilty verdict will prompt more people to check the small print before signing up for what looks like a bargain.

Ms Souter saysthe Authority gets between twenty and thirty complaints about this issue every year and she is optimistic the decision will change the face of advertising from now on.