ASA Adjudication on Microsoft UK Ltd

Ad

A TV ad for Xbox 360 showed the face of a woman whose features were frozen in a half-smile; she sat beside a man and the two were watching a film. Moving to the back of her head, it became clear that half of her head was missing and had been replaced with what appeared to be a mini cinema; the same couple snuggled on a sofa under the heading "NOW SHOWING" while a bright light from a projectionist's lamp, which projected a film onto the opposite wall, shone above them. Large on-screen text stated "DOWNLOAD MOVIES ON XBOX 360”. Smaller text beneath stated “Hard drive required. Hard drive consoles available from £169.99".

Issue

A viewer challenged whether the ad was misleading, because it failed to clarify that any downloaded movies were only available for 14 days or alternatively 24 hours after 'Play' had been pressed.

BCAP TV Code

Response

Xbox UK confirmed that movies downloaded from the Xbox Video Store expired 14 days after purchase or 24 hours after play had been pressed.  They explained, however, that in the context of a relatively short TV ad, it was not viable to express all of the features of the Xbox movie download service.  They said it was possible to download movies as the ad suggested and it was not in their view unreasonable to expect certain conditions to be attached to the purchase of the downloaded content.  

They said the terms and conditions were made clear at the point of purchase and it was not possible for users to download movies without being made aware of the 14-day rental licence.  They also pointed out that the pricing of the movie content was in-line with the cost of film rental, rather than DVD purchase.  They explained that the ad did not imply users could keep the downloaded content indefinitely, but merely stated that it was possible to download movies using Xbox 360 and to do so a hard drive was needed, both of which were true.  They said any Xbox owner could view the media usage rights before deciding whether or not to download a movie and would, therefore, be fully informed before doing so.  They also pointed out that in-depth information on downloading movies via Xbox Live was readily available on Xbox.com and from in-store specialists.  

Clearcast explained that the excessive use of superimposed text in an ad could be counterproductive.  They said, however, on this occasion they were unaware of any time limit on downloaded content and so had not considered whether that information should have been included prior to clearing the ad.

Assessment

Upheld

The ASA noted the ad did not state that movies, once downloaded, could be kept indefinitely but considered that this could be the interpretation that some viewers would take; that they would remain on the Xbox 360 hard drive, available to watch again and again until they chose to delete them.  

Although we noted existing console users would be made aware of the limitations of the downloaded content prior to downloading, we considered that the ad's message brought the downloading potential of the Xbox 360 console to new users' attention as well as existing owners; it stated "DOWNLOAD MOVIES ON XBOX 360 Hard drive required Hard drive consoles available from £169.99".  The download potential was, therefore, both a selling feature of the Xbox 360 and the basis for the purchase of a hard drive console.

Because the ad focused on the Xbox 360 download function and new users could be influenced to purchase on the basis of being able to download and keep movies, we considered that the time limitation to play downloaded movies and the fact that they were being rented rather than bought were significant conditions that should have been clarified in the ad.  Without that information, we concluded that the ad could mislead.    

The ad breached CAP (Broadcast) TV Advertising Standards Code rules 5.1 (Misleading advertising) and 5.2.3 (Qualifications).

Action

The ad should not be broadcast again in its current form.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Broadcast)