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Foxtel fined for misleading advertising, ACCC: ‘an asterisk does not stop an ad from being misleading’

Foxtel has been fined by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission for misleading advertising.

Its ‘Christmas Sale’ campaign, which ran in November and December last year, advertised a Foxtel subscription for $55 per month on a six-month contract.

But an asterisk referring to the small print revealed that the customer would be locked into a 12-month contract, which would mean the cost would rise to $77 per month after the six-month deal had concluded.

The campaign was running on TV, radio, newspapers, magazines, online, direct mail and at shopping centre kiosks.

ACCC chairman Rod Sims said: “The inclusion of an asterisk or a fine print disclaimer does not remove the potential for a headline to be misleading. Companies must ensure that they do not use misleading headlines about the price and other key terms and conditions of the services being offered. It is not enough for a company to try to correct a misleading headline using fine print text.”

Foxtel was fined $46,200.

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