Assessment 1 | Problem scenario
Assessment 1 | Problem scenario
Kieran is a 20-year-old university student studying creative writing who works part time as a yogainstructor. Kieran is very health conscious and follows a philosophy of clean living. Like many people, he is concerned about the current COVID-19 pandemic and is committed to doing everythingpossible to protecting his own health in the face of this new challenge. As Kieran is currently completing his studies online, he has more time on his hands and he hasdeveloped the practice of searching Instagram for information on COVID-19 and preventativehealth measures. He follows an account belonging to Evan Peters.
Evan is a failed celebrity chef, who shares Kierans clean-living philosophy, albeit in a more extreme and public way. Evans Instagramfeed advertises a product called The BioBubble which Evan is selling. The advertisement states the following:
BioBubble can you afford not to?In times like this, people need to be proactive in looking after their health. The BioBubble is guaranteed to prevent you catching COVID-19 or influenza. In fact, we are so confident in theoperation of this product, that we offer to pay $10 000 to any person that uses this machine asinstructed and contracts either influenza or COVID-19.
Kieran follows the Instagram link to Evans website. The above offer is repeated there in identical terms. Kieran completes the online ordering process, paying $15 000 for the product on 1 May 2022. The BioBubble arrives by courier the following day. The instructions state that the product should be used 5 times a day for 14 days, and Kieran follows this diligently.
On 7 May, Evan has a change of strategy. He has heard that the Therapeutic Goods Association iscracking down on health product, so he takes down the information on the BioBubble from Instagram and his website.
Unfortunately, on 25 May, Kieran contracts the flu. It is a bad case and means that he needs to takea few weeks off from his yoga studio, which has resulted in a loss of income.
Struggling to pay his bills, he remembers the promise made by Evan. He gets in touch with Evan to let him know that hewants to claim the $10 000. Evan tells Kieran that this advertising campaign has now been scrappedand, even when it was current, it was not a serious statement, just a marketing pitch.
Kieran wants to sue for breach of contract for failure to pay the $10 000 and seeks your advice as to whether there is a valid contract that allows him to do so.
