Loyalty points for good rating Bonn pharmacy not allowed to reward Facebook likes

Bonn · The Bonn Regional Court has agreed with the Wettbewerbszentrale that a pharmacy in Endenich may not give rewards for Facebook likes. The type of cooperation with a senior citizens' home was also inadmissible, it said.

 The regional court prohibits a Bonn pharmacy from awarding loyalty points for a good rating in a social medium.

The regional court prohibits a Bonn pharmacy from awarding loyalty points for a good rating in a social medium.

Foto: dpa/Hauke-Christian Dittrich

A pharmacy in Endenich may not reward Facebook users for their "Likes." Users of the social medium were each supposed to receive two so-called "Schlosstaler" - a type of loyalty points that could be used to exchange for rewards - for each thumbs up. This and three other violations of competition law were criticised by the Central Office for Combating Unfair Competition, which sent the pharmacy a warning letter.

However, the pharmacy initially failed to comply with the request to cease and desist and took legal action against the Wettbewerbszentrale. At the end of last year, the 3rd Chamber for Commercial Matters at the Bonn Regional Court upheld the complaint on three points. In the jurisdiction it is recognised that advertisement with paid recommendations is inadmissible, if that circumstance is not openly explained. According to the judges, the statements of third parties act as objective evaluations in advertising and are therefore generally valued more highly than statements made by the advertiser.

The Bonn judges also considered two other actions by the pharmacy to be misleading: it had also described itself on Facebook as an "emergency pharmacy" and, in cooperation with the management of a senior citizens' facility, had sent a circular to the residents suggesting that they could suffer disadvantages if they went to another pharmacy. The work as emergency pharmacy is now however not a special unique selling proposition: Rather each pharmacy must be available also for night emergencies on a regular basis. The connection of such a reference with the long opening time to 10 pm is therefore misleading here.

"Should you decide to use another pharmacy, the care facility cannot assume any liability, and you would have to organise the entire prescription management on your own - from communication with doctors to taking medication," it also said in the circular letter to the seniors of the home with which the pharmacy had entered into a cooperation agreement. According to the court, such a notice was not permissible because it suggested a whole series of disadvantages to the residents if they did not use the services of the cooperation partner.

Only on one point did the judges dismiss the plaintiff: The rhetorical question "Did you already know that the pharmacy produces medicines completely individually for you?" went unchallenged by the chamber, although this is also a matter of fact for just about every pharmacy. The ruling is not yet legally binding.

Original text: Leif Kubik

Translation: Mareike Graepel

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