Eleanor Richardson argued the commercial implied that Dotsure would pay for surgery up to R30‚000. Richardson said this was a lie and was misleading‚ because Dotsure only covers up to R10‚000.
Dotsure said that nowhere in the commercial did they explicitly state that they would cover up to R30‚000.
The ASA ruled the commercial was misleading‚ despite making no overt statements.
They said reasonable consumers will think their pet is covered‚ because of the on-screen message making reference to the R30‚000 amount.
The voice-over also says dogs may be alive only because they were covered by Dotsure.
The ASA ruled: “The reality is that‚ with R10‚000 cover‚ they still had to cover the bulk of the R30‚000 operation themselves.”
The ASA added that Dotsure selecting R30‚000 as an example was misleading and unnecessary.
“The Respondent [Dotsure] could have chosen a story where the entire cost of the procedure was covered by the insurance‚ used that figure on-screen‚ and have had no misunderstandings.”