Fly Buys in hot water over coffee maker

Rewards programme FlyBuys found itself in hot water over an advertisement which depicted a coffee machine available for purchase, when it was of superior quality to those actually on offer.

The website ad showed an image of a FrancisFrancis coffee maker, featured on television shows Sex and the City and Will and Grace and used by celebrity chef Jamie Oliver.

A customer who owned the model displayed said the ad presented false information, as FlyBuys did not offer a coffee machine "even vaguely similar" to the one shown.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) ruled the ad misleading to consumers.

The ASA said the use of the image implied that particular model was available, and said images shown should be accurate reflections of the company's products.

In response, advertiser Loyalty New Zealand maintained it had not intentionally given false information to its customers, as the illustration was simply a "creative means" of depicting the FlyBuys reward.

It said it did not intend to imply the FrancisFrancis model, or any specific brand, was available.

It said the image clearly showed a "superior and expensive brand" of coffee maker, and people interested in coffee-making would be aware of this.

Loyalty New Zealand has removed the picture from their website and said it would not use it in any future ads.

- NZPA