When free is not really free

The Bank of New Zealand decided to pull all its ads for the Global Plus Home Loan last month after someone complained the ads were misleading.

A person, O Rodgers, complained to the Advertising Standards Complaints Board that BNZ was advertising that people could get free overseas trips by switching their mortgage to Global Plus and earning airpoints on their repayments.

Rodgers said the ads, which featured on television, the Internet, in newspapers and in direct mailouts, were misleading as they did not disclose the $400 application fee and the $50 joining fee that were specific to Global Plus.

"And where fine print contained some of the special conditions, it was either too small or buried and likely to be missed."

BNZ told the board that it would withdraw all the TV ads and not screen them again in their current forms. Likewise, print ads in newspaper and brochures form would no longer be published in their current form, and all references to "free" would be deleted from the website.

The board ruled, in its written decision, that the matter was now settled.