ASA Adjudication on British Telecommunications plc

Ad

A national and regional press ad was headlined “See the ups and downs without the sky-high prices” and listed live football matches in March 2008 that could be seen on Setanta Sports. Further text stated “Join BT Vision now (digital TV for BT Total Broadband customers) and enjoy a month of live Setanta matches for free.”

Issue

British Sky Broadcasting (Sky) challenged whether:

1. the ad was misleading, because it implied that a subscription to Setanta Sports was cheaper through BT than through other suppliers when that was not the case, and

2. the headline claim was misleading, because they believed readers would see it as a price comparison with Sky, when Sky did not retail Setanta Sports.

CAP Code (Edition 11)

Response

1. BT said the ad was intended to inform existing BT Broadband customers that the offer would allow them to watch the listed Premiership games for free, with no obligation to continue the subscription beyond that month. They said because they were offering Setanta Sports for free, all other suppliers would have higher prices.

2. BT said they had not intended to draw a direct comparison with Sky but, had they taken that interpretation, readers would not have been misled. They said customers who subscribed to Setanta through Sky would pay for a Sky Sports package which would have significant additional content but would cost from £26 to £38, rather than nothing.

Assessment

1. Upheld

The ASA noted BT intended to highlight that their existing Broadband customers could watch the featured games for free in March 2008 if they subscribed to Setanta, with the option to cancel after one month. We noted the offer of a month's free subscription was clearly featured in the ad but considered that message was supplementary to the main headline claim which was likely to be seen to refer to BT's ongoing monthly subscription price for Setanta being significantly cheaper than other providers' "sky-high" prices. Because BTs monthly price was not significantly cheaper, we concluded that the ad was misleading.

On this point, the ad breached CAP Code clauses 7.1 (Truthfulness) and 19.1 (Other comparisons).

2. Upheld

We noted BT had not intended to make a direct comparison with Sky but nonetheless believed the claim remained accurate if the offer was compared with the price of watching Premiership football on Sky in March 2008. We acknowledged the ad did not draw a direct comparison with Sky but considered, because Sky was a well-known provider of televised football, "sky-high" prices could be seen as a reference to Sky.

We noted Sky customers could only get Setanta directly from Setanta, for the same monthly price as existing BT Broadband customers could get Setanta through BT Vision. Alternatively they could subscribe to Sky Sports, which offered live Premiership football as well as other channels from £26 to £38 per month. We considered BT's suggested comparison between free Premiership football from BT Vision in March 2008 and a Sky Sports package priced at from £26 to £38 per month was not fair because the contents of those packages were significantly different.

Because the headline referred to "sky-high" prices we considered it could be interpreted to suggest that BT offered subscriptions to Setanta significantly cheaper than did Sky. Because they did not, we concluded the comparison was not fair and the claim was misleading.

On this point, the ad breached CAP Code clauses 7.1 (Truthfulness) and 19.1 (Other comparisons).

Action

The ad must not appear again in its current form.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Non-broadcast)