Who: The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) and Domestika Inc
Where: United Kingdom
When: 26 November 2025
Law stated as at: 23 December 2025
What happened:
The ASA investigated a paid‑for social media ad for Domestika, an online course provider. The ad promoted a character design course, and featured the text “98% OFF”, along with the struck through price “£49.99” and an arrow pointing to the price “£0.99”.
The complainants, who considered that the £0.99 price was available only when signing up to a free trial for a subscription, challenged whether the ad was misleading.
Domestika argued that the ad promoted a reduced price of £0.99 as a time-limited offer, available only to consumers who started a 30-day free trial of Domestika Plus. When users clicked on the ad, they were presented with two pricing options, either the discounted rate linked to the free trial or the regular price without a subscription. The banner and payment page both made clear that the reduced price was conditional on starting the trial and showed the amount that would be charged following the trial period. Domestika stated that the payment page set out the terms of the Domestika Plus subscription and that users could cancel the subscription before completing the purchase, which automatically changed the price to the standard rate. After purchase, users received an email confirming the subscription and providing information on how to manage or cancel it.
The ASA upheld the complaint, finding that the ad was misleading. The ASA considered that consumers would understand from the ad that the course was being offered at a discounted price as a one-off purchase. However, to purchase the course for £0.99, consumers were required to sign up to a 30-day free trial of Domestika Plus. The trial automatically renewed into a yearly subscription costing £269 unless cancelled. The ASA understood that Domestika Plus was a subscription service providing access to a range of courses that changed on a monthly basis. Consumers did not need to be a subscriber to Domestika Plus to access courses that they had bought. The ASA understood that as part of the offer, if consumers signed up to the free trial, they could buy the full course to keep for £0.99. However, if consumers opted out of the free trial, the price of the course would revert to the full price of £49.99.
Why this matters
This ruling underscores that where a headline price is conditional on taking out a subscription or free trial, that condition must be clearly disclosed from the outset of the ad, not just during the purchase flow. Positioning a “98% off” or similar discount as a simple, one‑off purchase, when in fact it is contingent upon an auto‑renewing subscription, is likely to be considered misleading.
