Groupon Falls Afoul Of UK Advertising Regulator

On June 8, 2011, the UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) found that online coupon provider Groupon, Inc. had misrepresented the ordinary selling price of a third party service that was advertised to Groupon's online subscribers, and ordered Groupon to remove the advertisement from circulation. The ASA also ordered Groupon to ensure its compliance with proper advertising policies, so as to prevent similar events in the future. The decision is one of several regulatory decisions by the ASA in recent months, illustrating that – despite disclaimers to the contrary in the terms of use - "deal-a-day" online websites offering "red flag" or "last minute" for third party products and services may not be immune to scrutiny for representations made in online advertising in the UK, and possibly elsewhere. Whether such services could rely upon the exception in Canada's Competition Act for those who "print, publish or otherwise disseminate" an advertisement has not been tested.