EE broadband ad banned after complaint from BT
EE has come under fire from the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) after BT complained that a direct mailing ad for EE broadband mislead consumers.
BT said that text on the reverse of the mailing, which stated “Introducing Britain's most reliable broadband for staying connected,” could not be substantiated and that it was not sufficiently clear that the ad related to fixed-line broadband only, rather than both fixed-line and wireless router performance.
EE defended the ad and stated that it had been designed to draw out the benefits of EE broadband according to the latest Ofcom report, published in August 2013, which measured UK fixed-line broadband performance.
The mobile network added that the ad “in no way” implied that the claim applied to router connectivity.
In its ruling the ASA commented: “Because we considered that consumers would understand the claim to relate to reliability of a broadband connection, including fixed-line and wireless router performance, and EE had not provided sufficient evidence to substantiate the claim, we concluded that it was misleading.”
The ad was banned and must not appear again in its current form.