The Second Authority backtracks: Rejects El Al's claims and restores the CAL advertisement

The Second Authority for Television and Radio is retracting a central part of its decision against the advertisement of the Flyall aviation club from CAL. In a letter obtained by Globes, it was determined that CAL will be able to continue presenting in the advertisement the comparison between itself and the FLYCARD, including the financial gaps presented in its favor, provided that it adds clear clarifications regarding the calculation method.

The new decision was made following a request for reconsideration submitted by CAL. In practice, the Authority rejects a significant part of the claims of El Al and Isracard, who argued that the cards cannot be compared because they offer different accumulation, redemption, and benefit mechanisms.

In the background is an unusually large-scale advertising battle between the two aviation clubs. Since FLYCARD moved from the hands of CAL to Isracard of Yitzhak Tshuva, the parties have invested millions of shekels in an attempt to sharpen the differences between them and capture the audience of Israelis flying abroad. In just one week last June, the FLYCARD club invested about 4.6 million shekels in advertising, while CAL invested about 4.4 million shekels in promoting Flyall.

In the Frequent Flyer club, NBA player Deni Avdija and actress Niv Sultan were recruited for the campaign, while Flyall placed stand-up comedian Matan Peretz alongside the regular presenter Gal Malka. The Flyall campaign was based, among other things, on a direct comparison between the rate of benefit accumulation in both cards. This comparison is what ignited the dispute between the companies and finally reached the doorstep of the Second Authority.

Data supports the advertisement

In the original decision, which was revealed in Globes last month, the Authority demanded that CAL remove several statements from the advertisement for fear of misleading the public. Among other things, a comparison was presented according to which a customer spending 10,000 shekels a month would receive an annual benefit worth 600 shekels via FLYCARD, compared to 1,440 shekels via Flyall. The messages "twice the money back" and "who will reach a free flight faster" were also found to be problematic.

Now the Authority determines that although the cards are not identical, there is a clear consumer and economic point of comparison between them, since in both cases the use of the card accumulates benefits that can be used to reduce the cost of flight tickets. According to the data presented by CAL, which were not refuted by El Al, on the regular FLYCARD route the conversion ratio stands at 150 points per dollar. Accordingly, and based on the assumptions on which the advertisement was based, the presented expenditure yields an annual benefit of about 600 shekels in FLYCARD, compared to 1,440 shekels in Flyall.

El Al argued that the comparison ignores the FLYCARD bonus cards, where points may have a higher value. However, according to the Second Authority's letter, bonus cards account for a little more than 30% of point redemptions on El Al flights, and therefore most redemptions are carried out precisely on the regular purchase route. The Authority determined that comparative advertising does not have to factor in every promotion or special benefit offered by each of the parties.

The question "who will reach a free flight faster?" will also be able to remain. The Authority noted that although it cannot be guaranteed that every Flyall customer will fund a full flight earlier, the reasonable viewer will understand the statement as an illustration of the differences in the regular accumulation rate and not as an absolute promise.

However, the Second Authority clarified in the new position letter that the company will be required to clarify separately and prominently, and not just in the fine print, that the comparison refers to regular purchase of flight tickets and does not include promotions, joining benefits, or special redemption routes. In addition, the requirement to clarify that the exemption from the card fee in Flyall is granted only in the first year remained in effect. Before the advertisement returns to the screen, CAL will be required to pass the corrected version for prior approval by the Authority.