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Time, Carphone Warehouse, others get slapped wrists

Dodgy claims and broken promises - yes it's the ASA round-up

The Carphone Warehouse found itself in trouble with the Advertising Standards Authority this month for promoting hands free phone kits in cars. One advertisement in the national press showed a red warning triangle with the words "Hands free be safe" written on it. "If you use a phone when driving, please make safety your priority. You need hands!" it continued. The ASA said the advert implied that the use of a hands-free kit enabled drivers to drive completely safely, without distraction. It also noted that the Highway Code advised drivers to pull over before taking a phone call. Knuckles were wrapped at Computer Warehouse after the company claimed official recommendation from the Department of Trade & Industry (DTI). Another company on the wrong side of the ASA this month was Powercom Direct Ltd. The Slough-based company had advertised a laptop with 14.1in screen and PII 333 or 336 at £849 plus VAT. The advertising watchdog received a complaint that this price actually referred to an Intel Celeron 300 model with 12.1 inch screen. The ASA said it had instructed the company to withdraw the advert immediately. And Granville Technology suffered its fourth upheld complaint in a year, after Time Computers was caught rubbishing rivals' PC monitors. Time described a monitor in one of its adverts as a digital colour screen, warning: "Beware of lower quality 17in analogue screen offers from other suppliers". The ASA asked the company to remove this caution as its own advertised screen was actually an analogue monitor with an on-screen display, and not an LCD monitor, so therefore not truly digital. ® Related stories: ASA slaps Virgin for offensive ad The channel -- it's all breasts, gay men and dodgy ads ASA awards brickbats to IT firms Ads watchdog issues free PC warning Sage gets wrist slapped by ASA Web ad watchdog with no email ASA sinks teeth into channel advertisers UK body slams Cyrix/IBM for clock speed adverts Ad watchdog puts the boot in

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