ASA Adjudication on Skype Technologies SA

Ad

A TV ad, for Skype Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) software, showed a new father talking to his parents via a webcam. At one point, he moved his laptop so that they could see his partner and newborn baby.

Issue

Five viewers challenged whether the ad misleadingly exaggerated the sound and picture quality that could be achieved by using Skype.

BCAP TV Code

Response

Skype Technologies (Skype) said the software being advertised was the Skype video call, rather than the hardware through which it was delivered.   They pointed out that the quality of a Skype call was reliant upon a number of factors including the speed and quality of the broadband connection and therefore every user's experience would differ.

Skype said they wanted the ad to show a Skype video call in its best light and therefore used equipment to demonstrate the best possible quality that could be achieved.  They explained that, for technical reasons, they were unable to shoot the ad with a webcam and what was shown in the ad was not a real time Skype video call; a webcam did not possess the quality for the recording to be compressed and then outputted for a TV ad.  Skype confirmed that the video had not been improved or degraded in post-production and explained that the call depicted in the ad was filmed in such a way as to mimic a real time video call; they pointed out that when the new father moved his laptop, the image blurred and slowed.

Skype believed video calls made using the latest version of their software offered their best ever picture quality and their latest audio technology (SILK) provided near perfect sound performance.  They said the sound and picture quality achieved by the filming method used in the ad was equivalent to the best sound and picture quality that could be achieved by users at home; the quality was not so different as to mislead or cause disappointment to consumers.  Skype submitted three comparative screenshots; one from the ad and two taken from recordings of real time Skype calls.  They also performed a live demonstration of three Skype calls.

Clearcast endorsed Skype's response and said, where an ad could not show a real time demonstration, they allowed the service to be represented with simulated images, provided the standard of the image shown could be achieved by the viewer.  They reiterated Skype's point that the image was representative of an attainable standard, depending on the speed and quality of the viewer's broadband connection.  Clearcast disagreed that the ad was misleading.

Assessment

Upheld

The ASA noted the ad did not depict a real time Skype video call but noted the Code did not prevent the use of techniques to overcome technical problems in filming TV ads.  

We understood Skype had sought to mimic the effect of the blurring and slowness users could experience in a real time video call through the movement of the laptop by the new father.  We also noted that the quality of a Skype video call depended upon the speed and quality of a users broadband connection.  Although the sound and picture quality achieved by the filming method used in the ad was not representative of the typical performance that users could achieve, we noted it was representative of the best possible standard which could be achieved.

While we understood the technology would continue to evolve and improve, we considered that viewers would infer that the sound and picture quality depicted in the ad was typical of the performance that all users could achieve.  Consequently, because we understood that that was not the case at the present time, we concluded that the ad could mislead and should therefore have included qualifying text to make clear that performance depended upon the speed and quality of a users broadband connection.

The ad breached CAP (Broadcast) TV Advertising Standards Code rules 5.1.1 and 5.1.2 (Misleading advertising), 5.2.2 (Implications) but did not breach rule 5.4.1 (Visual techniques and special effects).

Action

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

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Broadcast)