Ad description
A radio ad, for PlusNet broadband, broadcast in April 2011, featured two men discussing the service. One said, "Dad, it says here PlusNet do broadband from only £6.49 a month and they've just won a bunch of awards for it." Later in the ad he said, "Get award winning broadband from £6.49 a month. PlusNet. Good honest broadband from Yorkshire. BT or PlusNet line needed, £25 activation fee, conditions apply."
Issue
The listener challenged whether the ad was misleading by omission, because it failed to mention that the price of the service was dependent on location and that consumers who lived outside of the 'low-cost areas' would be charged £6.49 a month for the first three months and either £10.79 or £12.99 a month thereafter.
Response
PlusNet and the Radio Advertising Clearance Centre (RACC) explained that the broadband was available at £6.49 a month, every month, for customers living in low-cost areas, identified by Ofcom as "Market 3 areas", which covered 77.6% of UK premises. Consumers not living in low-cost areas would pay more than £6.49 a month after the first three months. They said they had taken steps to alert customers to the fact that the advertised price did not apply to everyone. Firstly, they had qualified the price with the word "from" on both occasions when the price was quoted in the ad. They believed this made clear that while £6.49 a month was the lowest price available, some customers should expect to pay more. Secondly, the ad made clear that conditions applied and they noted that the PlusNet website contained information about the different prices that applied in low-cost and non low-cost areas. They noted that because the ad was broadcast nationally, approximately 77% of listeners would have been able to obtain PlusNet broadband at the advertised price of £6.49.
PlusNet and the RACC said that because such a high proportion of consumers were able to get PlusNet broadband at the advertised price, and because those who could not would have heard the reference to "from" and "conditions apply", they believed the ad complied with the BCAP Code and was not misleading.
Assessment
Upheld
The ASA understood that 77.6% of households in the UK were in low-cost areas and would have been able to obtain the broadband at the advertised price of £6.49 every month. We noted that the ad was broadcast nationally and, therefore, the majority of listeners would have been able to obtain the broadband at the advertised price. However, we noted that large areas of the British Isles were not low-cost areas.
We considered that references to "from only £6.49" and "conditions apply" went some way to alerting consumers to the fact that they might not be able to get the broadband at the advertised price. However, we considered the fact that broadband at £6.49 every month was only available in certain geographical locations, which were designated low-cost (or "Market 3") areas, was a significant condition of the offer which should have been made clear in the ad, and that merely stating a "from" price and "conditions apply" was insufficient in this regard. We noted the complainant was also concerned that the ad did not state the charges for those customers who lived outside the low-cost areas. However, we did not consider it necessary for a short radio ad to set out the higher prices for non low-cost areas (£10.79 or £12.99 a month after three months) since consumers could find this information elsewhere once they were aware that they might not get the broadband at the advertised price due to their geographical location.
For these reasons, we concluded that the ad was misleading and in breach of the Code.
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
3.10
3.10
Advertisements must state significant limitations and qualifications. Qualifications may clarify but must not contradict the claims that they qualify.
(Qualification).
Action
The ad must not be broadcast again in its current form. We told PlusNet to make clear in the ad that availability of the broadband at the advertised price was dependent on geographical location.
