Cave Promotions Ltd. Convicted and Fined $75,000 under Misleading Advertising Provisions of the Competition Act

OTTAWA, October 7, 1999 — The Competition Bureau announced today that Cave Promotions Ltd. has pleaded guilty to one offence under the misleading advertising provisions of the Competition Act. The conviction is related to a mail scratch and win promotion where consumers were led to believe that they had won a significant prize and were directed to call a 1-900 number to claim this prize. Upon calling the number, many consumers found that they had not won a prize at all, or had won a much smaller prize. Consumers who called the number were charged twenty dollars or more, a portion of which went to Cave Promotions.

The Court of Quebec imposed a fine of $75,000 on Cave Promotions Ltd. The court also issued a prohibition order PDF: 108 KB, which will require the company, its officers and its directors to refrain from engaging in similar conduct in the future.

"The Bureau will aggressively pursue companies who deceive consumers through marketing scams." said Konrad von Finckenstein. "In this case, Cave Promotions made money by encouraging people to call a 1-900 number when there was little or no reason to do so."

Cave Promotions Ltd. ran a series of promotions between April 1997 and September 1998. The game cards were distributed throughout various regions across Canada, depending on the promotion.

Agreed Statement of Facts (PDF: 900 KB)

For more information, please contact:

Julie Hébert
819-953-4257