Ad description

The website www.world-of-accessories.co.uk, for electrical and technology accessories, stated "Sky Eye with SKY [sic] + HD TV Remote Control … A Sky HD Remote (NEW silver/grey model) with the original Sky TV Link (Magic Eye) enables you to operate all of the Sky Digibox functions from another location within the home". A subsequent web page stated "Sky + HD TV Remote Control … This Sky HD remote control will operate all the latest Sky + HD TV boxes". Both web pages featured images of the products and the Sky logo.

Issue

The complainant, who believed the products were not genuine, challenged whether the product images and Sky logo misleadingly implied they were genuine.

Response

World of Accessories Ltd said the items were their own products, designed to work with Sky boxes as a cheaper alternative to Sky's own remotes and they had not advertised that they were genuine.

Assessment

Upheld

The ASA considered that the use of the Sky logo, images of products that resembled Sky's own remote controls and the text "Sky Eye … + HD TV Remote Control" and "Sky + HD TV Remote Control" gave the impression that the products were genuine Sky products, which we understood was not the case. We therefore concluded the website misled consumers about who manufactured the products.

The ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules  3.1 3.1 Marketing communications must not materially mislead or be likely to do so.  and  3.3 3.3 Marketing communications must not mislead the consumer by omitting material information. They must not mislead by hiding material information or presenting it in an unclear, unintelligible, ambiguous or untimely manner.
Material information is information that the consumer needs to make informed decisions in relation to a product. Whether the omission or presentation of material information is likely to mislead the consumer depends on the context, the medium and, if the medium of the marketing communication is constrained by time or space, the measures that the marketer takes to make that information available to the consumer by other means.
 (Misleading advertising,  3.7 3.7 Before distributing or submitting a marketing communication for publication, marketers must hold documentary evidence to prove claims that consumers are likely to regard as objective and that are capable of objective substantiation. The ASA may regard claims as misleading in the absence of adequate substantiation.  (Substantiation),  3.41 3.41 Marketing communications must not mislead the consumer about who manufactures the product.  and  3.43 3.43 Marketing communications must not take unfair advantage of the reputation of a competitor's trade mark, trade name or other distinguishing mark or of the designation of origin of a competing product.  (Imitation and denigration).

Action

The ad must not appear again in its current form. We told World of Accessories Ltd to include a prominent disclaimer that their products were not genuine Sky products and to remove the Sky logos.

CAP Code (Edition 12)

3.1     3.3     3.41     3.43     3.7    


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