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ANZ National's Money and the Bach advertising campaign for Bonus Bonds has landed the bank in court where it copped a $80,000 fine.
The bank's subsidiary ANZ Investment Services (New Zealand) pleaded guilty to two charges of breaching the Fair Trading Act and was sentenced in Wellington District Court, the Commerce Commission said.
The advert represented that people buying bonds before December 31, 2006 and retaining them until January 31, 2007 would go in a draw to win $1 million and $500,000 to go toward a bach.
But eligible consumers were to be placed in an initial draw, the winner of which got to choose from 100 envelopes with only one envelope containing the major prize. The other 99 envelopes contained a cheque for $10,000. This was a 1 per cent chance and not what the advert implied.
Commerce Commission director of fair trading Adrian Sparrow said: "Gifts and prizes must always be described accurately, and the description must not mislead people into thinking that an advertised prize will be won if, in fact, this is highly unlikely."
- NZPA
