Running a prize draw or giveaway in the UK: the CAP Code rules a brand must follow
The direct answer
In the UK a prize draw is a sales promotion governed by section 8 of the CAP Code and enforced by the ASA, and before running one a promoter should take legal advice to make sure it is a lawful promotion rather than an illegal lottery. The promoter must administer the draw under proper supervision with adequate resources and time (rule 8.15), and must be able to track every valid entry, including bonus entries for likes, tags and follows. The initial ad must carry every significant condition whose omission would mislead (rule 8.17): how to enter, the closing date, the nature and number of prizes, and any eligibility or availability restriction, with full terms easily accessible and retainable throughout. Winners must be chosen by a verifiably random process or under the supervision of a demonstrably independent observer (rule 8.24). Changing terms during a promotion, telling entrants they have won in error, and relying on a broken link to terms have all drawn upheld rulings.
Five conclusions
The argument, compressed.
- A giveaway is a sales promotion under section 8 of the CAP Code, and the ASA names influencers and brands alike in rulings.
- Settle the lottery question with legal advice before launch; a paid entry decided by chance is the risk.
- The first post carries the significant conditions: how to enter, closing date, prizes, eligibility. Full terms stay accessible and retainable.
- Every like, tag and follow that counts as an entry has to be tracked, or the draw cannot be shown to be fair.
- Winners are picked by a verifiably random process or in front of an independent observer, with evidence kept.
Working framework · 5 decisions
The fair draw check
Five checks that take a giveaway from idea to winner without a ruling.
Decision 01 / 05
Lawful
Confirm with legal advice that the mechanic is a lawful promotion: free entry, or skill, rather than a paid chance.
Lottery or promotion: the question to settle first
CAP opens its prize draw advice with a warning: before proceeding, promoters should seek legal advice to ensure they are running a lawful promotion rather than an illegal lottery. The CAP Code sits alongside gambling law here, and the question of whether entrants pay and whether the result depends on chance decides which side of the line a promotion falls. A free entry route is the usual safeguard, and CAP has separate advice on it.
Once that is settled, the promotion answers to section 8 of the CAP Code, and the ASA has shown it will apply the rules to a sole trader's Instagram as readily as to a retailer's website.
The short version
Check the lottery question, state the conditions in the first post, count every entry, draw at random with proof, and award what you promised.
Administering the draw and counting entries
Rule 8.15 requires promotions to run under proper supervision with adequate resources, and with time allowed for collecting entries, selecting winners and announcing results. Multi action entry mechanics are where this fails. Promotions that asked entrants to like a post, tag a friend and follow accounts were ruled against because the promoters could show neither how they planned to administer them nor how all entries, including bonus entries, were collated (Molly Mae Hague, Bellatricks and PrettyLittleThing, 2021).
Promoters are responsible for every stage and must avoid causing unnecessary disappointment. Zavvi drew 57 complaints after emailing entrants that they had won and then withdrawing the message as a technical error; the ASA held the promoter had given consumers justifiable grounds for complaint (2019).
Terms, conditions and choosing the winner
Rule 8.17 requires the ad to communicate every significant condition whose omission would mislead, and the ASA reads that as the initial material: how to participate, the closing date, the nature and number of prizes, and eligibility or availability restrictions, plus anything else that would affect the decision to enter. Hughes TV and Audio fell short by leaving out that the draw ran across several platforms with the winning platform picked first (2021). Other terms, such as how winners are announced and whether there is a cash alternative, may sit in linked terms, but those must be accessible and retainable throughout: Thomas Cook's broken link (2017) and PrettyLittleThing's Instagram posts with no link at all (2018) both failed. Changing terms during a promotion, even to curb abuse, has been ruled against (Headwater Holidays, 2014).
Rule 8.24 requires winners to be selected by a verifiably random computer process, with evidence, or by or under the supervision of a demonstrably independent observer. Names from a hat pass only with someone unconnected present and a record kept; a shortlist drawn from a hat with no evidence failed (Molly Mae Hague, 2021).
- Works: First post states the prize, how to enter, the closing date and who may enter, and links to full terms on a page that stays live.
- Works: Winner chosen by a random draw tool with the output saved, or in front of an independent observer.
- Fails: "Like, tag three friends and follow for bonus entries" with no way to count the entries.
- Fails: Terms rewritten after entries open, or a congratulations email sent in error.
What a giveaway does, and fails to do, for a brand
A giveaway buys attention from people who want a free thing, and most of them wanted the thing rather than the brand. The followers it adds are the least likely to remember you a month later, which is why follower counts after giveaways fall back.
The version that builds a brand is specific and rare: a prize that only your kind of customer would want, run cleanly, announced honestly. Then the promotion says something about who the brand is for, and the people who enter are the people worth keeping.
Before you use it
Questions that can change the recommendation.
Do CAP Code rules apply to an Instagram giveaway run by a small business?
Yes. A prize draw is a sales promotion under section 8 of the CAP Code wherever it appears, and the ASA has ruled against individual influencers as well as retailers for how entries were counted and winners chosen.
What must the first post of a giveaway include?
The significant conditions under rule 8.17: how to enter, the closing date, the nature and number of prizes, any eligibility or availability restrictions, and anything else that would affect the decision to enter. Full terms must be linked, accessible and retainable throughout.
How must a giveaway winner be chosen?
Under rule 8.24, by a verifiably random computer process with evidence, or by or under the supervision of a demonstrably independent observer. Keep a record of the draw.
Can I change the rules once the giveaway has started?
CAP says changing terms during a promotion should be avoided at all costs; the ASA has upheld complaints where terms were created or enforced retrospectively, even to combat abuse.
What does brand strategy cost in the UK?
At Branding Tatva the Foundation engagement starts at £1,950 for UK clients. Its published scope includes discovery and positioning, audience definition, a core visual identity, starter brand guidelines and launch messaging direction. Legal advice on promotion mechanics and gambling law is outside the scope.
Research record
What this guide draws from.
Each source note describes what the reference supports. Platform guidance, research findings and Branding Tatva's practical suggestions have different scopes.
- Promotional marketing: Prize draws
Committee of Advertising Practice
AdviceOnline updated 17 June 2026. Rules 8.15, 8.17, 8.24 and 8.28, and the Molly Mae Hague, Bellatricks, PrettyLittleThing, Zavvi, Hughes, Thomas Cook and Headwater Holidays rulings.
