A rider performs a stunt at the Mountain Dew Stunt Festival on Easter Monday. The FTC is investigating wheter the organisers of the festival misled patrons in their ads. - Ricardo Makyn

by Andre Jebbinson, Staff Reporter

The Fair Trading Commission is seeking to determine whether the organisers of the Mountain Dew Stunt Festival mislead their patrons.

"We are going to be investigating it. We are busy trying to see and weigh if there might have been a breach," said Barbara MaCalla, executive director at the FTC.

The advertisement for the event said, "bring and use your Mountain Dew labels to ride free all day (conditions apply.) But an article published by the The Gleaner on Tuesday, April 10 suggested that the organisers did not deliver what was promised.

Some patrons turned up on Easter Monday at the Jamalco Sports Club in Clarendon thinking they were going to exhaust themselves on the rides, only to be told it would not be so. Not only did they have to present the labels from the Mountain Dew bottles, additional cash had to be paid to go on some of the rides.

If the FTC does determined foul play, the organisers would be in breach of Section 37 of the Fair Competition Act, which speaks to misleading advertising and representation. The organisers could be fined.

MaCalla also said FTC is just in the investigating stage. She has made contact with the promoter of the event, Lynval Gibbons as she gathers information.

"Not everything that don't go how we think it should is a breach. We will just have to wait and see," MaCalla said.

Gibbons said he is unaware of any dissatisfaction among the patrons at the event.

"This is the fourth year and the same people keep coming back. It is clear as day what you need to do," Gibbons said.

A representative from Pepsi-Cola Bottling Company, the local distributors of Mountain Dew, said more attention should have been paid to the flyers to avoid the confusion.

"This is Jamaica. Every time you run a promotion, they will not read or listen. They allow the excitement to get the better of them," she said.

An official response from Pepsi-Cola did not come in time for press.