Cereal promotion confusion unintentional

1 May 2008

Cereal promotion confusion unintentional

Progressive Enterprises spokesperson, Richard Manaton said today that the company regretted the series of errors in 2006 that led to a cereal promotion appearing in-store after the promotion had closed.

The company was yesterday found guilty in the Manukau District Court under ss17 and 40 of the Fair Trading Act 1986 and fined $17,000.

The District Court emphasised that Progressive had not acted deliberately and had no intention to mislead customers. The Judge described this as an unusual case, where Progressive had been careless but the situation had been exacerbated by other external factors. The Judge emphasised that Progressive was a company of integrity, with no previous convictions.

The low fine imposed by the Court reflects these findings.

“The problems that occurred after the competition closed were the result of genuine, good-faith errors and I am pleased Judge Morris made specific reference to there being no attempt by Progressive to deceive customers. We sincerely regret that all references to the promotion were not removed from the cereal packs after the competition had closed.

“We have since reviewed and changed our processes to avoid this happening again”, said Mr. Manaton, General Manager of Marketing at the time of the promotion.

ENDS

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