Swire Coca-Cola Taiwan, Ltd. violated
the Fair Trade Law for failing to provide prizes under the promotion of "Youth World
Cool Point Cumulation"
Chinese Taipei
Case:
Swire Coca-Cola Taiwan, Ltd. violated the Fair Trade Law for failing
to provide prizes under the promotion of "Youth World Cool Point Cumulation"
Key words:
point cumulation, prize promotion
Reference:
The Fair Trade Commission Decision October 8, 1997 (the 301st
Commission Meeting); Letter (86) Kung Erh Tzu No. 8608960-004 of 6 November 1997;
Disposition (86) Kung Chu Tzu No. 196
Industry:
Soft Drinks Manufacturing Industry (1183)
Relevant Laws:
Article 21 of the Fair Trade Law
Summary:
- In August 1997, a number of consumers complained to the Fair Trade
Commission (FTC) that they felt cheated by Swire Coca-Cola Taiwan Ltd. (Swire), which was
sponsoring a prize promotion named "Youth World Cool Point Cumulation" that was
to last until the end of August. When consumers visited Swire's web site in early August,
they could not find any relevant information. In addition, when making inquiries over the
telephone, they were told that all prizes had already been handed out. Swire's
advertisements did not specifically state that supplies were limited and that the
promotion would end once the limited number of prizes had been given away.
- The prize promotion included two main themes, i.e., "point
cumulation in exchange for prizes" and "telephone call-in to win a trip for two
to Disney World." The theme "point cumulation in exchange for prizes" was
disputable because of its redeem deadline. The consumers who had collected sufficient
points could redeem their prizes by directly going to Swire during June and July 1997, or
by mailing the points to Swire from June to the end of August of the same year, which was
later extended to the end of September. Swire advertised for the prize promotion by TV,
newspapers, radio, posters, the Internet and product packaging. There were originally over
46,000 prizes, but with the enthusiastic response from the consumers, Swire decided to add
another 3,800 prizes in July. Reports of the add-ons and how the promotion was going were
then published in late July in the three local newspapers who had the largest circulation.
The original prizes and the add-ons had all been given away by the beginning of August.
- Though it is true that words like "first come, first serve-
while supplies last" were marked on some of Swire's advertisements, such words were
not prominently featured either on the advertisements or printed on the packaging of its
most popular products. While the advertisements for the promotion had been taken out on a
comprehensive and ongoing basis; all prizes had been given away were only broadcast or
published sporadically, lasting for only a short while. Therefore, under such insufficient
information, the consumers are likely to be misled and continue accumulating points but
there was no way to claim a prize.
- As the Coca-Cola Company is a renowned company, its products are
highly competitive in the market and trusted by the consumers. It failed to fully disclose
material information for "first come, first serve-while supplies last," and
failed to express those words clearly. Therefore, though the content and measure of
Swire's advertising contained no false or untrue representations, they nevertheless
mislead he consumers and should be deemed to have violated Article 21(1) of the Fair Trade
Law.
Summarized by Wu, Te-sheng
Supervised by Shih, Chin-ts'un
Appendix:
Swire Coca-Cola Taiwan Ltd.'s Uniform Invoice Number: 39211209
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