Ad description
A TV ad, for a mobile phone tariff with Orange, featured voice-over stating "Welcome to Monkey, the pay-as-you-go music service from Orange and 4 Music. That brings you the music you love, free and straight to your mobile. Simply dial in from your handset to listen to the latest tracks from all your favourite artists and check out our ready to go playlists." At the same time, on-screen text stated "247". The voice-over continued "It couldn't be easier. You get free music, free internet and unlimited texts, all for just £5 ..." Large on-screen text stated "free music. free internet. unlimited texts. all for £5". Smaller on-screen text stated "Min top up £5. Unlimited texts cost £5 ...". The voice-over continued "To get your free Monkey SIM just search online for Orange Monkey. Monkey from Orange & 4 music."
Issue
One complainant challenged whether the ad was misleading because, as a customer on the relevant tariff, they had topped up their phone with more than £5 and had not received free internet or unlimited texts.
Response
Everything Everywhere explained that the Monkey deal was made up of two elements. The first element was free services that a customer could access once they had purchased £5 of top-up credit in one month, which comprised free music and free internet on their phone. The second element was an extra bundle of unlimited texts that could be purchased for £5 of top-up credit. They said that a customer who purchased £5 of top-up credit and spent it on the bundle of unlimited texts would have had access to all three services: free music, free internet and unlimited texts.
They explained that the ad focused primarily on the free music offer, and made it clear that customers would need to dial "247" from their Orange mobile phone to hear specially selected playlists. They explained that, in order to access the free internet, which lasted a month, customers needed to collect their free daily internet pass by launching the internet page on their phone, linking to their branded landing page called 'Orange World', which contained a button for customers to add the free service to their account. They said information about accessing the free internet was found in the terms and conditions for the Monkey plan on their website. In relation to the unlimited texts, they explained that customers could purchase a bundle of unlimited texts, which would last for a month, by texting them from their phone and activating the package. They said that they would then deduct £5 of credit and apply the bundle of unlimited texts to their phone.
They did not believe the ad was misleading. They said the claim "free music, free internet, unlimited texts all for £5" accurately summarised all of the services that a customer could get if they topped up with £5 credit and spent all of that credit on the unlimited texts bundle which they could get by texting them. They said the ad was clear that the internet and music services were free, so long as the customer purchased a minimum of £5 top-up credit, whereas the unlimited texts cost £5. They said the on-screen text "Minimum top up £5. Unlimited texts £5" made it clear that there were two actions required by customers to get all three elements of the deal: to top up a minimum of £5 and to purchase a bundle of unlimited texts costing £5 from that credit. They did not consider that the need to collect the free internet pass from the 'Orange World' website from their phone was a significant condition of the offer.
Clearcast understood that music was easily available on a customer's handset, as was access to the internet, and that both of these services were free. They said this seemed straightforward and they did not feel there was a need for additional information in relation to those two elements of the deal. They said that the situation regarding the unlimited texts was slightly more complicated in that £5 credit had to be spent on the unlimited texts bundle. They said they thought the text "you get free, music, free internet and unlimited texts, all for just £5" and the qualifying on-screen text "Unlimited texts cost £5" was sufficient to alert consumers to the fact that £5 had to be spent on texts. They said that the final voice-over "To get your free Monkey SIM just search online for Orange Monkey" directed consumers to the Orange Monkey website for more information on the offer. They said they had made every effort to ensure that the deal was communicated in the simplest and most effective way, and the fact that only one customer had experienced difficulty with the deal indicated the ad was neither confusing nor misleading.
Assessment
Upheld
We noted that it was possible for a customer to get free music, free internet and unlimited texts for £5, and that the ad made clear how a customer could access their free music by dialling 247 from their handset. We also noted that to collect their free daily internet pass, customers had to visit the Orange World website from their handset, and that to purchase the unlimited texts customers had to send Orange a text so that £5 could be deducted from their credit and the bundle of unlimited texts added to their account. We understood that information about how to access the internet and purchase the unlimited texts was found on their website but noted that the ad did not direct customers to their website for this information. We did not consider that the final voice-over "To get your free Monkey SIM just search online for Orange Monkey" did this but rather directed new customers to the website for the purpose of obtaining a free Monkey SIM . We considered that because the ad did not make clear that customers had to take further steps, in addition to topping up their phone with £5 credit, to access the free internet and purchase the unlimited texts bundle, consumers were likely to be misled into thinking that all they had to do was top-up their phone with £5 credit to get free internet and unlimited texts. We therefore concluded that the ad was misleading.
The ad breached BCAP Code rules
3.1
3.1
Advertisements must not materially mislead or be likely to do so.
and
3.2
3.2
Advertisements must not mislead consumers 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 consumers need in context to make informed decisions about whether or how to buy a product or service. Whether the omission or presentation of material information is likely to mislead consumers depends on the context, the medium and, if the medium of the advertisement is constrained by time or space, the measures that the advertiser takes to make that information available to consumers by other means.
(Misleading advertising), and
3.12
3.12
Advertisements must not mislead by exaggerating the capability or performance of a product or service.
(Exaggeration).
Action
The ad must not be broadcast again in its current form. We told Everything Everywhere to ensure that future ads make clear the steps required to take up an offer.
