The FCC has fined a Boston radio station $4000 for broadcasting misleading announcements about the nature of the prize to be awarded in a station contest.

 The contest was promoted on WMJX-FM as an opportunity to win a choice of three cars. The “Cool, Hot or Green” contest announcements never revealed on the air that the winner in fact did not receive the car, but instead only a two year lease on the car, and only if the winner passed a credit check.

 Nor did the promos mention that full contest rules were available on the station’s website.

While the written rules on the website made clear that the prize was merely a lease of the car, the Commission faulted the licensee for not broadcasting an accurate disclosure of these rules on the air.

While the licensee argued that this was but a minor ambiguity in the rules, the FCC, reviewing some recent decisions, disagreed.