A Karmarama television ad for PlusNet broadband has been banned by the Advertising Standards Authority after it upheld complaints from viewers that its ‘everyone’s a winner’ statement and a separate claim that ‘All broadband’s [sic] half off’ were both misleading.
The controversial piece depicted a man intonating the claims to camera with small on-screen text cautioning that the offer was available to new customers only.
PlusNet stated that use of the term ‘everyone’s a winner’ was a common phrase in everyday use and not to be taken literally and whilst the ASA acknowledged this they considered that, in context of the other claims, ‘it would be understood to mean everyone could benefit from the offer’.
In their judgement the watchdog observed: “We therefore considered the text ‘New customers only’ contradicted that impression. We acknowledged that the offer was in fact available to existing customers but considered the inclusion of that condition, which was in any case contradictory, in the ad was likely to lead existing customers to believe they could not benefit from the offer and that they might miss out on the promotional price as a result. We therefore concluded that the ad was misleading.
In its deliberations the ASA also noted that the half-price offer applied to packages with line rental only, with broadband only services retailing for full price, stating: “The text ‘with £13.99 monthly line rental’ was likely to be interpreted to mean that was the price of line rental for consumers who chose to take it, rather than that the offer was available only to those who paid £13.99 per month for line rental.
“We considered that was a significant condition of the promotion that was not made sufficiently clear and that the word ‘with’ was not sufficient to counteract the overall impression of the ad, which was that all broadband was half price. On balance, we therefore concluded that the ad was misleading.”
A separate complaint that an on screen disclaimer was too small to read was not upheld.