ASA Adjudication on The Carphone Warehouse Ltd

Ad

A national press ad for various mobile phone packages featured an offer for the Blackberry 9000 Bold. Text next to an image of the product stated "3G internet; built in GPS maps; iTunes music player; Includes unlimited data*; Wi-Fi connectivity". Further text in a box underneath stated "600 mins + UNLIMITED texts*. 8 MONTHS 1/2 PRICE*. YOU SAVE £150. By redemption normally £37.50 pm". Footnoted text at the bottom of the ad stated "250MB per month ... 3000 UK texts per month".

Issue

1. One complainant challenged whether the claim "Includes unlimited data" was misleading, because he believed that claim was contradicted by the "250MB per month" limit stated in the footnoted text.

2. The ASA challenged whether the ad should have made it clearer that a fair usage policy applied to the unlimited data.

CAP Code

Response

1. e2save said they understood from the network provider, Orange, that the 250 MB monthly usage limit was far in excess of the amount of data that an average customer would use. They said they understood that 1 MB represented 160 wap pages, 100 short emails, 4 video clips or 3 music tracks. They argued that, in that context, a limit of 250 MB was fair.

Orange sent documentation that showed that the number of customers on the unlimited data package who had breached the 250 MB monthly limit was a tiny proportion of the total number of customers on that package. They explained that data usage in relation to some of the applications was heavily dependent on customer usage and on the type of software being used on the handset.

2. e2save said the footnoted text should have stated "subject to a fair usage policy of 250 MB". They said that all future ads would be amended to include that text.

Assessment

1. Not upheld

The ASA noted e2save's response and the information provided by Orange. We noted that that information showed only a very small proportion of customers on the unlimited data package had exceeded the fair usage data limit of 250 MB per month. We considered that the vast majority of customers were unaffected by the data limit, and we therefore concluded that the fair usage policy did not contradict the claim "includes unlimited data".

On this point we investigated the ad under CAP Code clauses 3.1 (Substantiation) and 7.1 (Truthfulness) but did not find it in breach.

2. Upheld

We welcomed e2save's assurance that future ads would make clear that the unlimited data package was subject to a fair usage policy. Nevertheless, we considered that the ad should have made it clear to customers that a fair usage policy applied to the 250 MB monthly data limit, and because it did not we concluded that on this point the ad was misleading.

On this point the ad breached CAP Code clause 7.1 (Truthfulness).

Action

The ad must not appear again in its current form. We welcomed e2save's assurance that future ads would make it clear that a fair usage policy applied to unlimited data packages.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Non-broadcast)