ASA Adjudication on Apple (UK) Ltd

Ad

A national press ad, a regional press ad, a poster, two Internet and two cinema ads for the Apple Mac computer.

a. The national press ad, regional press ad and poster showed the comedians Mitchell and Webb, each holding up a sign. Mitchell's sign stated "I was made for the office. To do the serious stuff you have to do, like spreadsheets and timesheets and pie charts. With me, viruses and crashing can be a way of life, but eventually you'll just get used to it. I think computers are meant for work, and fun is just a waste of time. I'm a PC." Webb held up a sign that stated "I was made for the home. To do the fun things you want to do, like photos and movies and music. I run Mac OS X so you don't have to worry about the viruses and spyware that PCs do. And I come with iLife so I can do amazing stuff right out of the box. I think computers should be human and intuitive so, well, that's what I am. I'm a Mac." Text at the bottom of the ad stated "There's more than one choice when it comes to a computer. Watch Mitchell and Webb as PC and Mac on ...".

b. The first Internet and cinema ad was entitled "Virus" and showed Mitchell and Webb. Webb said "Hello, I'm a Mac"; Mitchell said "And I'm a PC". Mitchell started to sneeze and said " … I think I've got that virus that's going round. You'd better stay back, this one's a humdinger"; Webb responded "It's OK, I'll be fine". Mitchell replied "Don't be a hero. Last year there were 114,000 known viruses for PCs"; Webb replied "PCs, not Macs". Mitchell said "I think I'm going to crash now" and fell to the ground.

c. A second Internet and cinema ad was entitled "Restarting" and showed Mitchell and Webb. Webb said "Hello, I'm a Mac"; Mitchell said "And I'm a PC". Mitchell was then shown to freeze mid-sentence and, after a long pause, said " … Sorry, had to restart, you know how it is"; Webb replied "Not really"; Mitchell said "Oh what, Macs don't have to" and then froze again before eventually finishing the sentence.

Issue

1. Nine of the 14 complainants, who believed a virus attacked software and operating systems, not hardware, and a PC could use a variety of software and operating systems, some of which contracted similar low numbers of viruses as Mac OS X, challenged whether the ads misleadingly implied all PCs, regardless of the software or operating system they used, were vulnerable to crashing, would contract a number of viruses and would frequently need to be restarted.

2. Eight of the 14 complainants challenged whether the claim "I run Mac OS X so you don't have to worry about the viruses and spyware that PCs do" in ad (a) was misleading and irresponsible, because it implied Mac computers could not be infected by viruses and therefore did not require virus protection.

3. Three of the 14 complainants challenged whether ad (c) misleadingly implied Mac computers would never crash or need to be restarted.

4. One of the 14 complainants challenged whether ad (b) was misleading and irresponsible, because it implied Mac computers could not be infected by viruses and therefore did not require virus protection.

CAP Code (Edition 11)

Response

Apple said the ads were no longer in use and they had no plans to run them again.

1. Apple said the claims were based on PCs that ran Microsoft Windows, which they believed were more vulnerable to crashing, would contract more viruses and would need to be restarted more frequently than Macs. They said the ads were targeted at the home consumer, not the technology professional. They asserted that almost 97% of home PCs, used for non-commercial purposes, ran on a version of Microsoft Windows; they believed therefore the claims were accurate for the ads target audience. They asserted that Linux, the PC operating system that some of the complainants believed would contract a similar low number of viruses to Macs and which would not crash or need restarting as much as a PC that ran Microsoft Windows, was most commonly used on servers, not home computers, and was therefore used mainly by technology professionals. They argued that Linux should not be compared to Mac OS X or Windows.

Apple sent data relating to the number of Linux users taken from an online website and a quote from a computer magazine, which stated that Linux was best used in the workplace. They also sent a letter from a digital marketing agency, in which they stated that the desktop market for Linux users was very small; they explained that out of a sample size of nearly 10 million users, only 0.41% reported using the Linux platform.

2. & 4. Apple pointed out that ad (a) stated " ... so you don't have to worry about the viruses and spyware that PCs do" and asserted that ads (a) and (b) were intended to convey that Macs were not susceptible to the same 114,000 viruses they believed PCs were susceptible to. They argued that the risk of virus infection on Macs was greatly reduced and that Macs did not suffer from the same security risks as PCs, in particular the vast majority of viruses that could infect PCs. They pointed out that the ads did not claim that Macs were totally immune to viruses. They said Macs came with a built-in firewall that alerted users whenever they might be downloading a potentially virulent programme.

Apple sent excerpts from news articles on the number of viruses identified for PCs, which stated that Macs did not face the same security risks as PCs. They also sent a letter from an IT security company that stated Windows systems faced many more security risks than Mac or Linux systems.

3. Apple pointed out that in response to the line "Sorry, had to restart, you know how it is", Webb (as a Mac computer) replied "Not really"; he did not state "no". They asserted therefore that the ad did not imply that Macs never crashed or needed to be restarted but that they rarely did and did so less frequently than PCs. They referred to evidence they had sent in response to point 2 about viruses and asserted that that was relevant because viruses were a common reason for computers crashing.

Apple sent excerpts from news articles, which stated that Macs rarely crashed or needed restarting and that PCs that ran Microsoft Windows could often crash or need to be restarted.

Assessment

The ASA understood that Macs were able to run Microsoft Windows but also noted it was not the principle operating system they used, or came packaged with, and they did not require Microsoft Windows to operate. We considered that the claims in the ads would be understood to refer to Macs that ran Apple software rather than Microsoft Windows.

1. Not upheld

We considered that the ads referred to PCs that ran Microsoft Windows. We noted the articles sent by Apple stated that the majority of home computers worldwide used Microsoft Windows but also understood that other operating systems were available for PCs. We considered, however, that the ads target audience, home computer users, were unlikely to be aware of the other operating systems available for PCs and would understand the term "PC" in the ads to mean a PC that ran on Microsoft Windows. We considered that those people, who were aware of other PC operating systems, would also understand that viruses attacked software and operating systems, not hardware, and would therefore understand that the ad referred to PCs that ran Microsoft Windows rather than another platform, for example, Linux. We concluded that, because people who saw them would understand they referred to PCs that ran on Microsoft Windows and any operational difficulties that might be associated with them, the ads did not misleadingly imply all PCs, regardless of software or system, were vulnerable to crashing and viruses.

On this point, we investigated the ads under CAP Code clauses 7.1 (Truthfulness) and 19.1 (Other comparisons) but did not find them in breach.

2. Not upheld

We considered that the claim ... you don't have to worry about the viruses and spyware that PCs do" in ad (a) would be understood by readers to mean that viruses, which infected PCs, were not the same as those that could infect Macs, and also that Macs were less likely to be infected by viruses than PCs: the claim did not imply Macs would never be infected by viruses and did not require virus protection. We understood that the type of viruses that infected PCs with Microsoft Windows, could not infect Macs that did not run Microsoft Windows. We also understood that Macs, which did not operate on Microsoft Windows, were less likely to be infected by viruses than PCs. We concluded therefore that the claim was not irresponsible or likely to mislead.

On this point, we investigated ad (a) under CAP Code clauses 2.2 (Responsible advertising) and 7.1 (Truthfulness) but did not find it in breach.

3. Not upheld

We considered that the ad implied, in comparison to PCs that used Microsoft Windows, Macs rarely crashed; it did not imply that Macs never crashed. We understood that Macs that did not run Microsoft Windows contracted fewer viruses than PCs that ran Microsoft Windows and as a result they were less likely to crash or need restarting. We considered that, because Macs that did not run Microsoft Windows were less likely to crash than PCs that ran Microsoft Windows, the ad was unlikely to mislead.

On this point, we investigated ad (c) under CAP Code clause 7.1 (Truthfulness) but did not find it in breach.

4. Not upheld

We noted Apples assertion that the ad was intended to convey that Macs were not susceptible to the same 114,000 viruses they believed PCs were susceptible to. We noted Webb replied "PCs, not Macs" to Mitchells claim "Don't be a hero. Last year there were 114,000 known viruses for PCs" and "It's OK, I'll be fine" to Mitchells claim " ... I think I've got that virus that's going round. You'd better stay back, this one's a humdinger". We considered that people would understand that to mean viruses that infected Windows based PCs would not infect Macs and that Macs were less likely to be infected by viruses than those PCs; not that Macs would never be infected by viruses and did not require virus protection. We understood that the viruses that infected Microsoft Windows based PCs would not infect Macs that did not run Microsoft Windows, and those Macs were less likely to be infected by viruses than those PCs. We concluded therefore that the ad was not irresponsible or likely to mislead.

On this point, we investigated ad (b) under CAP Code clauses 2.2 (Responsible advertising) and 7.1 (Truthfulness) but did not find it in breach.

Action

No further action necessary.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Non-broadcast)