BT Infinity TV ad banned over 'exaggerated performance' claims
BT has been reprimanded by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) for producing a television advert which made speed claims of its fibre optic broadband service, BT Infinity, that were based on out of date data.
The embarrassing oversight led BT to claim that its service was ‘eight times faster’ by way of a voiceover and on screen text; further illustrating this speed by way of a man uploading his photograph to a dating site whilst a flatmate seemingly purchased concert tickets near instantaneously.
A parallel website, productsandservices.bt.com, beefed up this claim with a bit more detail, stating: “Infinity 2 has arrived... Eight times faster: speeds based on Infinity Option 2 average customer speed and UK average from Ofcom report, Feb 2012."
One person was quick to point out that this report was now out of date whilst four others contacted the ASA whether the depicted internet activities had exaggerated the performance of BT Infinity.
Ruling that BT had failed to inform consumers that its eight times faster claim was based on out of date data the ASA concluded that the ad thus ‘exaggerated the performance of BT Infinity’.
The ad has been banned from repeat broadcast in its current form.