Parklife Festival Fined £70,000 for Pretending to be Festival-Goers’ Mothers

Parklife festival has been fined £70,000 for “distressing” promotional methods which saw the company behind the event sending text messages to festival-goers pretending to be their mothers. 

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The company behind the Manchester festival, Manchester Ltd., sent text messages to attendees from “Mum”, with the message reading: “Some of the Parklife after parties have already sold. If you’re going, make sure you’re home for breakfast!”. However, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) didn’t see the funny side of the promotional technique, with one teenager, 19-year-old Ros Prior, reportedly bursting into tears after receiving the message due to her mother having passed away three years ago.

Speaking to the BBC, Ros said: “My phone went off and I clicked to read it. It said, ‘New message from mum’ and my heart stopped.

“Even though it was only two seconds of sheer panic, it was horrible because I just saw mum. You just think, ‘Oh my god, is she still alive?’

“I started crying. And then I read the text and realised it was Parklife.”

Ros sent an email to the organisers behind the event explaining her disapproval of the text message, with the ICO having now received 76 complaints in total regarding the issue. The ICO has now enforced a £70,000 fine on Manchester Ltd., with Head of ICO Enforcement Steve Eckersley saying: “This was a poorly thought out piece of marketing that didn’t appear to even try to follow the rules or consider the impact that their actions would have on the privacy of individuals.

“It made some people very upset in an attempt to sell tickets to a club night. The fine sends a clear message that using this type of marketing is unacceptable.”

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