Watchdog says manufacturer exaggerated 3G performance in TV ads.
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has made Apple withdraw a TV ad for its iPhone after upholding the complaints of 17 people who said the 3G performance speeds shown were exaggerated.Specifically, the ASA appears to have taken umbrage to the repeated use of the words "really fast" in the ad, which read like this:
"So what's so great about 3G? It's what helps you get the news, really fast. Find your way, really fast. And download pretty much anything, really fast. The new iPhone 3G. The internet, you guessed it, really fast."
The watchdog also disapproved of the fact that web pages and Google Maps appeared on the iPhone screen almost instantly when selected, albeit with the disclaimer "network performance will vary by location" appearing on screen.
In its adjudication statement statement issued this morning, the ASA said: "Although we acknowledged that the majority of viewers would be familiar with mobile telephones, we considered that many might not be fully aware of the technical differences between the different types of technology. We also noted the ad did not give an explicit indication of a comparison with the older 2G iPhone."
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The ASA concluded that the ad "must not appear again in its current form."
In terms of its defence, the ASA says Apple "said the claims made in the ad were relative rather than absolute in nature. They pointed out that the opening line of the voice-over stated 'So what's great about 3G?'... They believed that the claim clearly positioned the content of the ad as a comparison of the new 3G iPhone with its 2G predecessor."
