Original URL: https://www.theregister.com/2012/04/18/asa_bt_infinity_ads_4_complaints_upheld/
BT's 'unbeatable' Infinity broadband ads banned by ASA
Not to Infinity and beyond, actually
Posted in Legal, 18th April 2012 11:13 GMT
BT has been collared by Blighty's advertising regulator, the ASA, which upheld four complaints brought against the telco giant.
It ruled that BT's Infinity ads as shown on telly, published in the press and run online were misleading. The watchdog added that none of the commercials should appear in their current form again.
Complainants included rival telco Virgin Media, which challenged BT's claim in those ads that its "superfast" broadband Infinity package was "unbeatable". VM and the three other complainants successfully argued that such a claim could not be "substantiated" by BT.
It further grumbled that the national telco had misled would-be customers about the "unbeatable" speed it offered because BT failed to state that it was only available with certain broadband packages.
In BT's online ad it claimed that it offered "four times faster broadband" without stating the basis of the comparison.
The ASA agreed with all four complaints brought against BT and upheld that the firm had breached ad code rules.
The Register asked BT to comment on this story. It hadn't got back to us at time of writing. ®