ASA Adjudication on First Travel

Ad

A TV ad, for the First RailAir Coach Express, showed people boarding a First RailAir coach. The ad showed the coach travelling in a bus lane on a motorway, passing stationary traffic. A voiceover stated "Come fly with us. RailAir. Direct from Reading station to Heathrow." On-screen text stated "Rail Air. Come fly with us. READING STATION HEATHROW".

Issue

The complainants, who asserted that there was no bus lane between the Reading and Heathrow junctions on the M4, thought that, by showing the coach travelling in a bus lane and overtaking stationary traffic, the ad misleadingly implied the journey was quicker than it really was.

Response

King Dandy Company Ltd (King Dandy) responded on behalf of RailAir.  They said RailAir was a fast, convenient coach express service that was accurately portrayed in the ad.  They said most of the RailAir journey between Reading and Heathrow airport took place on the M4 between the A329(M) and the M4 spur into Heathrow airport; that part of the M4 did not have a priority lane for buses and coaches because it was not subject to frequent traffic congestion problems.  They explained that the bus lane shown in the ad was a mile long and was on the M4 spur into Heathrow airport, which they believed was possibly the most congested part of the RailAir journey between Reading and Heathrow.  They asserted that the M4 spur also had the benefit of priority traffic signals for buses and coaches.

King Dandy pointed out that the A329(M)/A3290, on the approach to Reading, had a priority bus and coach lane for one-third of a mile and King's Road, the main road between Reading town centre and the M4, had priority bus and coach lanes in both directions for three-quarters of a mile.  They said the priority bus lanes reduced RailAir journey times considerably because they were in areas that were often heavily congested.

ITV Meridian, who cleared the ad for broadcast, said the ad illustrated that the RailAir service from Reading to Heathrow took advantage of priority bus lanes to provide a fast service and was not misleading.

Assessment

Complaint not upheld

The ASA considered that viewers would infer from the ad that part of the RailAir journey between Reading and Heathrow airport took advantage of a priority bus lane and therefore saved customers time in periods of congestion.  We considered that viewers were unlikely to infer that the RailAir coach travelled in a bus lane for the entire journey between Reading and Heathrow.

We noted the complainants were correct in thinking the section of the M4 that involved a bus lane was not the section the RailAir coach service used in its journey between Reading and Heathrow.  We noted, however, there was a bus lane on the M4 spur into Heathrow airport that was used by the RailAir coach.  Although the M4 spur was only a short section of road, we noted it was often congested and other parts of the RailAir journey that were at risk of congestion also had a bus lane.  We considered that, because parts of the RailAir coach journey between Reading and Heathrow airport involved the use of a bus lane, which was likely to save customers time in periods of traffic congestion, the ad was unlikely to mislead.

We investigated the ad under CAP (Broadcast) TV Advertising Standards Code rules 5.1 (Misleading advertising) and 5.2.2 (Implications) but did not find it in breach.

Action

No further action necessary.