Quiz

Clever marketing or sleazy marketing?
Do you know the difference?

Question 1

Richard sees the following ad:

“Claim your FREE prize and enter to win a trip for two to Wimbledon.”

He visits the website and enters his information for the drawing. He also sees the Propulsion tennis racquet that he’s been wanting and on impulse whips out his credit card and buys it. His free prize – some tennis balls – arrives a week later in the post.

Q: Is Richard the victim of an unfair commercial practice?

Yes / No / Maybe

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Question 2

While on vacation in Morocco, the airline loses Johan’s luggage. He wants to get reimbursed by the insurance company, but whenever he calls them he gets put on hold for as long as five minutes and eventually dropped from the queue of waiting calls. Johan writes to the company to complain but one month later still hasn’t received a reply.

Q: Is Johan the victim of an unfair commercial practice?

Yes / No / Maybe

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Question 3

Anna sees the following ad:

“Lowest price on the Nokia SV-4000”

She hurries down to the electronics store to buy the faddish new Nokia phone but when she gets there the salesman says that the next shipment will only arrive six months later. He suggests that Anna purchase the Nokia SV-3000 instead. The phone is an older model and only €20 cheaper than the Nokia SV-4000.

Q: Is Anna the victim of an unfair commercial practice?

Yes / No / Maybe

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Question 4

Beatrice is thinking of buying the Stimulol™ weight loss pill. She looks for it on the internet and finds the following offer:

“Today only: buy 2 bottles of Stimulol for 1 Euro!”

Beatrice decides to think about it. She checks the website the next day and is delighted to find that the Stimulol special promotion is still on. She hurriedly whips out her credit card and buys the Stimulol.

Q: Is Beatrice the victim of an unfair commercial practice?

Yes / No / Maybe

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Question 5

Valentin wants to visit his girlfriend in Barcelona. He’s therefore pleased when he sees the following advertisement:

“Bask in Barcelona for just €1!”
* Prices exclusive of airport taxes and insurance.

Valentin calls up to book his flights. He easily gets a seat. With airport taxes and insurance, the total cost comes to €49.95.
Q: Is Valentin the victim of an unfair commercial practice?

Yes / No / Maybe

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Question 6

Sophie sees the following advertisement in a women's magazine.

She sends in the reply card and receives her bottle of fragrance. Later on, however, she sees the same 100 ml bottle of fragrance available in a shop for only €14.95.

Q: Is Sophie the victim of an unfair commercial practice?

Yes / No / Maybe

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Question 7

Antonio is looking for a new bed. He drives by a shop and notices a banner saying:

He turns around and goes back to the furniture store. He finds a bed on sale. The display says:

Antonio buys the bed.

Three months later he's passing by the store again and is surprised to see that it's still there. Out of curiosity, he goes into the store. He discovers the same bed he had purchased three months ago. Now, it only costs €159.95!

Q: Is Antonio the victim of an unfair commercial practice?

Yes / No / Maybe

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Question 8

Arne is an avid collector of model ships. He sees the following advertisement in Modelmaker Magazine:

He orders the replica online and is delighted when his model ship arrives by post. Unfortunately, just a few days after he completes building it, his two year old son smashes it to bits. A few days later, while shopping at a model making shop, Arne sees the exact same replica. Even though it’s not the one officially approved by the Royal Navy, he buys it because it’s considerably cheaper than the official one. Strangely, the replica has exactly the same parts and assembly instructions. In fact, Arne finds no difference between the cheaper replica and the officially approved one.

Q: Is Arne the victim of an unfair commercial practice?

Yes / No / Maybe

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Question 9

Jakob is a teenage boy who is into shoot ‘em up computer games. He sees the following advertisement in Mercenary Heroes Magazine:

Jakob orders the AK-47.

Q: Is Jakob the victim of an unfair commercial practice?

Yes / No / Maybe

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Question 10

Giselle receives an advertisement from a bigelectronics store in her postbox. It advertises computers, analogue TVs, stereos, MP3 players, printers and faxes. The following ad catches Giselle’s attention:

When she goes into the electronics store, she discovers that there are no more wide-screen TVs in stock and that only a handful of products are actually on sale.

Q: Is Giselle the victim of an unfair commercial practice?

Yes / No / Maybe

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