iPhone 3G ad banned in the UK by Advertising Standards Authority

By on Nov 26, 2008 at 12:00 PM
News November 26, 2008

Across the pond in the UK, they do in fact have something very foreign to us here in America called advertising standards. Apparently, in some cases at least, companies are actually held accountable for claims made in their advertisements. Crazy, we know. The body responsible for ensuring that advertising is up to par with UK standards, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), was none too happy with a recent iPhone 3G commercial and ended up banning it from UK airwaves. Apparently it received complaints from 17 people claiming that the commercial was very misleading, citing one point in the ad where the handset loads web pages in just a fraction of a second. Apple responded with the claim that its representations and statements in the commercial were “relative rather than absolute in nature,” but still complied when the ASA instructed it to cease the ad run. Despite the presence of the text, “Network performance will vary by location” in the ad, the ASA seems to think that the iPhone 3G is not capable of such speedy performance regardless of the network. We can’t say we disagree. Here in the US, similar ads continue to run but may in fact be pulled by Apple in the not-so-distant future. Why? We don’t complain to an ad-watching organization here in the States, we sue.

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19 Comments

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  • [RM]

    That’s how it works all over the world, but not US as usual, the only country where they can say whatever they want in their commercials and get away with it, and especially Apple, just works my ass.

  • mingkee

    twice as fast
    that’s was a lie over 9999x times!

  • Scott

    “We don’t complain to an ad-watching organization here in the States, we sue”

    Which is a MUCH BETTER SYSTEM because we tax payers don’t have to pay for an entity like the ASA (and additionally do not have state run/controlled content) and companies are held accountable in court.

  • Jay

    ……….sue their behinds…..I agree

  • Tande

    Huh and here I was going to say that you should be a responsible consumer and do your own research, read the fine print, and make decisions based on facts instead of snappy marketing.

    All of the iPhone/touch ads are misleading. Have you ever had any game load in the fraction of a second that you see on the ad? No but apple is trying to compress it into a TV, not give an accurate portrail of how it works in the real world.

  • http://www.bgr.com Michael Bettiol

    Whatever happened to the invitation to treat?

  • backbeat

    Scott’s whitewash of who ‘pays’ and who does not notwithstanding, your dollar is not your ‘vote’ nor your free speech. It is just your temporary buck until a monolithic industry requires it from you. Those monoliths who are self-regulated, and self-policing, are an incredulous insult to any rational person’s intellect. You are simply a payment conduit from their perspective, which also subsidizes their legal defense budget.

  • j

    i wonder how at&t would fair in the U.K. they’ve had some of the most misleading ads ever!!!!!!!!!!

  • Dtest54

    i guess this is ok but all of the ads of this type have disclaimers that state the its simulated. either way its ok but i would rather not have another fcc type agency to oversee ads.

  • ndONLINE

    I agree that ads that embellish to the point of lying should be pulled, but a system where only 17 people can affect an entire ad campaign really scares me! Anyone else?

  • zargon

    We need something like that here in the US, it may prevent us from seeing a lot of stupid commercials.

    I also would not be apposed to never having to see a Apple commercial again, that would be awesome!

  • Berdon Magnus

    Anyone have a link to the commercial? I just bought an iPod Touch and for me, on WiFi, the internet is blazing but that is using WiFi, so maybe not the greatest of comparisons.

  • keymaker

    There’s no problems with our laws cause the iphone is capable of the speeds on the ads, that AT&T networks is being slow is a different Story, that’s why it also says clearly coverage and reception may vary by area. People sometimes make no sense, People wish they could download podcast & iTunes music over 3G not knowing it will F*ck up the network for everyone around you, Use your F*cking minds, the network your on is being share by other people too you know

  • backbeat

    Those who uniformly subscribe to the school of religion that we’re a nation of laws, yet whine for tort reform, are the bottom of the barrel. Laws are solely reactionary, which only lines the pockets of the legal system. When the US legal system incorporates forward-thinking, _proactive_ stances of not whether something is right or wrong, but whether it is wise, we’ll finally have our “more perfect union”. But not one moment earlier.

  • tony

    @backbeat

    can you shut the hell up please? i really hate when people babel on about shit and try to sound smart.

  • Dtest54

    @backbeat – what is wise is not universal, free country = no universal truths. so yeah listen to tony and shut up…

  • jimmykicks

    Paying lawyers to oversee consumer protection is cheaper (and more effective) than paying a government agency? I doubt it. Both systems have their merits and fallbacks.

  • backbeat

    A couple of trolls don’t like me? Boo-fuckin-Hoo! ;) Nice dodge of the central subject, geniuses. Typical!

  • ruben

    does anyone know how or if there is a flash player for the iphone without jailbreaking?????????????

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