Advertisement Standards

Article 1 General Rules

Section 1 (Goals)

Our goals for setting these advertisement standards (hereinafter referred to as "Standards") are as follows:We aim to achieve the social trust that ensures custom, and to advance advertisement standards in the examination preparation and training market.We resolve to strive to achieve these goals through our efforts to appropriately advertise our company activities.

Section 2 (Application)

  1. The Standards hereinafter apply to the general consumer-focused advertisement on examination preparation programs and other services (hereinafter referred to as "Programs").
  2. The term "Advertisement" herein refers to general consumer-focused advertisements that are implemented by the following means:

    (1)Advertisement on a pamphlet, leaflet, flier, or other similar format.
    (2)Advertisement in a newspaper, journal or other printed material.
    (3)Advertisement on LECfs webpage (DzeLEC) or other Internet webpage.
    (4)Advertisement on posters, signs, or other similar formats.
    (5)Advertisement in other media that is intended to provide information.

Section 3 (Our Commitment)

Our basic commitment includes:

  1. We will provide fair and appropriate advertisement, in compliance with related laws and regulations.
  2. We will use appropriate expressions in advertisements that will not invite misunderstanding by general consumers.
  3. We will provide information other than the advertisement media when we believe there is a need to provide further information to the consumer, such as cases where it is impossible to include sufficient information on the face of the advertisement.
  4. We will respond to the consumer complaints and inquiries regarding our advertisement methods by general consumers in a quick and appropriate manner.

Section 4 (Advertisement in Understandable Manner)

Plain expressions will be employed in advertisements whenever possible.Explanation of our services, quality, and other basic matters will be made in a correct and understandable manner, and we will give consideration to the following areas:

(1) Layouts: letter size, color, etc.
(2) Placement of footnotes near to main sentences.
(3) Attachment of contact address and information.

Section 5 (No Misleading Advertisement)

We bear in mind the following points and intend to provide non-misleading advertisement so that customers can have a clear and accurate overview of our service, with clear understanding of our unique services.

(1) We do not overemphasize the positive aspects of the service for our customers in general.
(2) We provide information that is not in favor of (or disadvantageous to) the customers in general.
(3) We limit our positive expressions such as "No.1 in the industry" "Only in our company" "Best quality" to the objective facts, and we include as many concrete numbers or reasons as possible near to the advertising text.

Section 6 (Comparative demonstration)

We bear in mind following points when we compare our service and products with those of our competition in terms of price, quality and trade conditions.

(1) Indicate objective facts and show concrete figures and numbers.
(2) Comparisons must be fair, just, and based on evidence (such as the content of services).Comparisons must be made with similar or equal services that are recognizable within the boundaries of social convention.
(3) When the price is compared with certain competitors, the name of the competitor must be clarified.

Section 7 (Price and advertisement)

We bear in mind the following points when the prices of our courses are indicated in the advertisement of our courses, so that our customers can choose the courses based on their needs.

(1) Expressions that emphasize the inexpensiveness such as "heavily reduced" "minimum price" "the lowest price" are limited to expressions that are based on objective facts. We also indicate concrete figures and grounds when representing our courses as inexpensive.
(2) When discounts (including the so called "set price") are indicated, the applicable course, duration, and additional costs or conditions are clearly written for the advertised products, if the conditions could be to the disadvantage of a customer.
(3) We clearly indicate costs that are to be paid by our customers and are not included in the course fees.

Section 8 (Exam-passers Performance Number and Rate)

  1. We bear in mind the following points when the exam-passers performance number and rate is indicated in our course advertisements, so that customers can choose courses based on their needs.
  2. Exam-passers performance for Main Examination,

    (1) "Exam-passers performance" hereinafter refers to the number or rate of the candidates, who have successfully passed the exam and have utilized the educational and exam-preparation course of LEC (hereinafter refered to as "Users"), out of total successful exam passers (hereinafter refers to as "Total Exam-passers").
    (2) When Exam-passer performance is indicated, we only calculate the number of Users who have used one of our "Main course", and will add a note about the course in detail.
    (3) The term "Main courseh hereinafter refers to our course that will satisfy one of the following conditions:
    　[1] It is scheduled more than 10 times (or 10 hours)
    　[2] It is conducted through lectures or face-to-face teaching (with detailed lecture resume and grades).

  3. Other Performance Number and Rate

    We will indicate the number and rate of the "Users" out of the total number of Exam-passers in the following conditions:
    (1) We will indicate the number and rate of Users of the Main course based on a calculation of the number of total users of one or more course, out of the total number of Exam-passers.However, when we use the number of users for more than one course, we will add a note about the combined courses in detail.
    (2) Courses, other than Main Courses, will be indicated separately for each course, and will be calculated by the number and rate of the successful exam-passers out of the total number of Exam-passers.

  4. Calculation of the number of the Users will be based on data, and the data, which our calculation will be based on, will be collected and kept according to the procedures of our company.
  5. The number and rate stated in this article will be publicized only when procedures have been followed and the facts have been settled within the company.

Section 9 Advertisement of Support Systems

When we advertise support systems, such as telephone support system, we will indicate the content of the system from an objective perspective as much as possible and will not use extravagant claims on the advertisement that would invite misunderstanding among consumers.

Article 2 Specific Rules

Section 10 Advertisement of Free Offers and Discount Campaigns

We bear in mind the following points when a free or discount campaign is indicated in an advertisement for our courses:

(1) The period of time, items and application deadline for free or discount rate in the aforementioned campaign will be specified in clear manner so that it would not invite misunderstanding among consumers.

(2) If the discounted rate is different for each consumer, such as "Discount up to 10%",it will be specified in clear manner.

(3) If the contract for the regular service is different from the contract for the free or discount campaign service after the campaign period, it will be represented as such.If the free or discount campaign service and other regular services are stated in same contract, the contract will make this clear.In addition, it will clearly state the initial period of time that is free or discounted, and will state whether or not a transition procedure from free or discounted service to regular service is required.In the latter case, particularly when we use terms such as "Trial", "Free trail" etc., we will clearly specify the procedure by which it will be transferred to the regular service and any related procedure.

(4) The comparison between the free or discounted rate and the regular rate will be based on the most recent undiscounted course rates.In addition, the comparison between the campaign rate and the future rate will be based on reasonable certainty such as the future rate that is planned to be applied after the campaign, etc.

(5) If free or discounted campaigns are limited to certain consumers (for example, when the campaign is limited to first-time users, etc.), it will be represented as such.

Article 3 Others

Section 11.Appropriation of Advertisement by Assigned Agency Assigned

Assigned Agencies of LEC will be appropriately advised to maintain standards as an assigned agent or subcontractor in their advertisements, based on LEC Advertisement Standards.

Section 12. Media Advertisement

Advertisements, posters and signs in media, such as newspapers, journals, etc. that has limited space will not be subject to the Standards in part or whole.However, we intend to provide non-misleading advertisement, to follow the basic concepts stated in these Standards, and to consider the characteristics of the media so that the customers can have a clear and accurate overview of our unique services.

Section 13. Advertisements in the Website

We will bear in mind following points when advertising on the website.

(1) Make efforts to indicate the accurate update time of the content.

(2) When the important information is disclosed in links, we will clarify the contents of the links in the colored link text. We will pay attention as to the size of the letters as well as the locations of them.

(3) When the banner advertisement is conducted, the above-mentioned points in (2) are taken into consideration. We will inform the readers based on the Standards.

Section 14 (Revisions)

We will revise these standards and criteria so that the customers can choose the courses with a secure (trustworthy) feeling.

Section 15 (Jurisdiction)

The first court in charge of these standards is the Tokyo District Court.

Section 16 (Revisions and Abolishment)

The board of our company has absolute power to revise or abolish the standards mentioned herein.

Additional Rules

Section 1 (Implementation)

These standards will be enforced from December 1st 2004.

Section 2 (Provisional Measures)

We will promptly replace materials that do not fulfill the standards mentioned here in material that is already published.