The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) yesterday fined Jardines Restaurant Group NT$100,000 for a KFC Taiwan promotion in February that offered certain products for only NT$1 without saying the offer was only available while supplies lasted.
The products were offered for just NT$1 if purchased with certain meal combinations.
Reports that the promotional items quickly sold out, however, led the commission to launch an investigation into whether the promotion could be considered false advertising since it did not mention that the offer was only good whiles supplies lasted.
Fair Trade Commission Vice Chairperson Shih Hui-fen (施惠芬) said nowhere in KFC’s promotional materials, which included print ads, TV commercials, online ads and in-store displays, did it mention that supplies were limited.
MISLEADING
“Many customers were misled into thinking they could take advantage of the offer, only to be told that supplies had run out,” Shih said.
Some customers said they felt cheated and suspected KFC of using the promotion to attract consumers in the hope that they would purchase other products.
The commission sent undercover officials to KFC outlets to buy the special meals, but they were told supplies had run out.
Shih said that the investigation found that on the second day of the promotion, 49.2 percent of the 126 KFC stores nationwide had run out of promotional supplies by noon, while 43.6 percent of the rest had sold out by dinnertime.
Even as the promotion continued, the investigation revealed that the outlets did not have enough additional supplies to cope with soaring demand..
The investigation led the commission to rule that the company had violated the Fair Trade Act (公平交易法).
APOLOGY
In response, Jardines Restaurant Group said that supplies ran out because it had underestimated the popularity of the promotion. It said it had not tried to deceive or cheat consumers and it apologized for any inconvenience to customers.
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