T-Mobile walloped for 'dangerous driving' ad
PrintRoad warriors beware
Posted in Mobile, 18th January 2006 10:52 GMT
Free whitepaper – Rack mount solutions
T-Mobile UK has pulled an ad aimed at business users who want to stay connected on the move because it "condoned dangerous driving".
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) received 13 complaints from people concerned that the ad - which featured a woman driving a car with her glove box crammed full of office equipment - was "irresponsible".
Alongside the image of the woman at the wheel of a car, the accompanying blurb said: "Work where you work best. Business data solutions from T-Mobile puts your business wherever you are. BlackBerry, mobile broadband access and HotSpots mean the internet and email are always with you."
Defending the ad, T-Mobile argued that the image did not show any of the mobile gizmos being used while driving. Nor did the ad suggest that the products should be used while driving, it said.
But the ad watchdog didn't buy it, taking the line that motorists could be prosecuted if they didn't have proper control of their vehicle while driving.
"We considered that, because the woman could be seen to be driving with only one hand on the steering wheel, consumers could infer that she was engaged in another activity while driving," the ASA said. "We considered that, because motorists could be prosecuted for failing to have proper control when using a hands-free phone, the image of the woman was irresponsible and was likely to be seen to encourage dangerous practice."
T-Mobile will not be appealing the ASA's ruling. ®
Free whitepaper – Out-of-box comparison between Dell, HP, and IBM blade servers
The Register Agile Data Center Summit
What Exchange can't do - and Dell can
SMB phone systems product requirements worksheet
Service Level Monitoring and management
Analyst Keynote: The Register Agile Data Center Summit
Dirty, dirty PCs: The X-rated picture guide
Top 500 supers - rise of the Linux quad-cores
Early adopters bloodied by Ubuntu's Karmic Koala
Sign up, sign up for The Register IT security newsletter