Important Principle Decision From The Advertising Board Regarding Discount Sale Advertisements 31 January 2024

What is the Guideline on Advertisements Containing Price Information Discount Sale Advertisements and Commercial Practices?

The Guideline on Advertisements Containing Price Information and Discount Sale Advertisements and Commercial Practices is a guideline which was adopted by the Advertising Board as its Principle Decision No. 2022/1 at the meeting dated April 12, 2022, and numbered 320, has been prepared based on Law No. 6502 on Consumer Protection and the Regulation on Commercial Advertising and Unfair Commertial Practices, with the aim of providing guidance to advertisers, advertising agencies, media organizations, sellers, providers, intermediary service providers, and all individuals, institutions, and organizations involved in advertising, regarding advertisements containing price information, discount sale advertisements, and commercial practices.

What are the Main Important Principles outlined in the Guide on Advertisements Containing Price Information and Discount Sale Advertisements and Commercial Practices?

According to the Guideline;

• A price or discount advertisement may not use phrases such as "net", "all" or "everything" unless they apply to all goods or services in the store or in a particular category.

• The phrases "...up to", "...from", "...until" should be included in the advertisements regarding discounted sales campaigns in a readable size. These phrases and the scope of the goods announced to be subject to discounted sales should meet the reasonable expectations of the consumer.

• It may not falsely state that a good or service will only be offered under certain conditions within a very limited period of time in order to deprive the consumer of the opportunity or time to make an informed choice.

• The price presented to consumers in advertisements should be the total sales price of the good or service, including all taxes.

• If there is a time or stock limit regarding the validity of the price, this time and stock amount shall be clearly stated in the advertisements. In advertisements that contain any written, audible or visual expression indicating that a discount has been made on a good or service; the price before the discount, the start and end dates of the discounted sale, and if the amount of the goods or services offered for sale at a discount is limited, this amount must be clearly and understandably stated.

• If a good is offered for sale on the same e-commerce platform and by the same seller through different extensions and different discount rates and amounts are determined, it is considered that this situation causes confusion about the discount applied to the average consumer and therefore will be contrary to the provisions of the legislation.

• Although it is stated in the advertisements that the discount is valid in all sales channels/points of sale of the seller or provider, misleading discount sale advertisements that create the impression that only some sales channels/points of sale are subject to price discounts will be contrary to the legislation.

What is the Principle added to the "Guideline on Advertisements Containing Price Information and Discounted Sale Advertisements and Commercial Practices" with the amendment dated 09.01.2024?

It has been evaluated that loyalty programs that are frequently applied recently, which are defined by the Advertising Board as discount cards, coupons, loyalty programs or practices that allow consumers to accumulate points for future purchases, which are not considered within the scope of discount sales and which give consumers the right to long-term price discounts in specified groups of goods or services, are now may be easily participated in through transactions that can be carried out in a short period of time, such as sending a text message, giving approval via the website or mobile application, or filling out a form, and that loyalty programs have turned into discount sales practices to include the vast majority of goods or services offered for sale day by day and that these applications are used to create an unrealistic discount perception in consumers and this situation is deemed to be misleading and distorting the price perception of consumers and is contrary to the legislation.

Accordingly, it has been accepted as a principle decision that advertisements for goods or services offered for sale through a loyalty program may not directly or indirectly create the impression of a discount by using phrases such as "discount", "savings", or "special discount/opportunity for XY card/members", "pre-discount price" or visuals such as crossed-out prices or downward trend graphs, and this principle has been therefore included in the Guidelines on Advertisements Containing Price Information and Discount Sale Advertisements and Commercial Practices.

Thus, a comprehensive step has been taken towards more effectively protecting consumers against deceptive practices that make it difficult for them to compare prices in discount sales campaigns.

Who is responsible in the event of a   non-compliance with the"Guideline on Advertisements Containing Price Information, Discounted Sale Advertisements and Commercial Practices"?

dvertisers are responsible for price displays, discount sales announcements, stock notifications and commercial applications published on any platform.

The Guideline on Advertisements Containing Price Information and Discount Sale Advertisements and Commercial Practices, made a statement by way of sampling within the scope of its responsibility regarding the products offered for sale through e-commerce platforms.

Accordingly, it has been stated that in the case of the intermediary service provider promotes a product on any platform such as television, the internet, etc., for items offered for sale through an e-commerce platform, the intermediary service provider will be held responsible as the advertiser.

The current version of the Guidelines on Advertisements Containing Price Information and Discount Sale Advertisements and Commercial Practices is available here.