Pepsi criticised for competition fronted by Didier Drogba

Pepsi said it did not know the 'exact mechanism' used to enter so many times but that a robot programme must have been used

Pepsi has been criticised by the UK advertising watchdog for the way it ran a competition offering a prize of £500 an hour, after one disgruntled family was stripped of multiple wins after entering more than 11,000 times.

The soft drinks giant ran an on-pack prize promotion, fronted by footballer Didier Drogba, offering the chance to win £500 an hour when consumers entered part of a barcode online or by text.

A complainant contacted the Advertising Standards Authority to say they did not think the promotion was run fairly as they had won several times but only been awarded one cash prize.

PepsiCo International said over the six weeks of the promotion one entrant and his family entered more than 11,000 times by slightly varying a range of email addresses.

The family – which had the equivalent of 35 entries in each draw Pepsi made, with more than 500 entries submitted an hour in some cases – won on "multiple occasions".

Pepsi did not clarify how many times the family won, but decided to only pay out for the first win for each family member.

The company said in its terms and conditions there are not allowed to be "bulk, consumer group, third party or agent entries" such as by an automated computer programme.

Pepsi said it did not know the "exact mechanism" used to enter so many times but that a robot programme must have been used because it seemed impossible for an individual to submit so many entries manually.

The company added that this was unfair to other players and it withheld the prizes won with multiple entries.

In its ruling the ASA said that while using multiple email addresses was "not within the spirit" of the promotion, Pepsi had not provided evidence that the complainants entries were made by any means other than individuals using multiple emails.

"We therefore considered that to withdraw the prizes subsequently, and in some cases over a month after those entrants had been notified of the wins, caused unnecessary disappointment," the ASA said.

The ASA ruled that Pepsi had run an unfair competition because it had not made "significant" conditions of the promotion "sufficiently clear".

"We are disappointed with the ASA's ruling as we feel the terms and conditions of the competition made clear the restriction on the number of entries," said a spokesman for Pepsi. "We strongly believe the Pepsi Max promotion was administered fairly and honourably, but will review our conditions going forward."

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