Ad description
Claims on www.ubisurfer.com, for the UBISLATE 7, a tablet device, was headed "UBISLATE 7". The ad featured text at the top of the page which stated "Pre Order: click here". Further text at the foot of the page stated "Availability: Early 2012".
Issue
The complainant challenged whether the ad misleadingly implied that the product would be available in early 2012, because despite having ordered the product in 2011, they had still not received it.
Response
Datawind Ltd said the ad made clear that the product would be available for early 2012. They said that was a generic date for the first release of the tablet. They said India was the first market to receive the tablet and said the online pre-order form made clear that the product was available only in India.
Assessment
Upheld
The ASA noted the telephone number on the right of the ad was a UK telephone number and that the ad invited consumers to pre-order the UBISLATE 7 which was available in early 2012. We also noted the pre-order form, which clicked through from the ad, listed the prices for the advertised product in pounds sterling and stated that consumers would be charged when the device was ready to be shipped. The form did not make clear that the product was available only in India. In that context, we considered consumers would understand the advertised product was available to consumers in the UK from early 2012.
Because we had not seen any evidence to demonstrate that the UBISLATE 7 was available to consumers in the UK in early 2012, we concluded that the ad was misleading.
The ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 3.1 3.1 Marketing communications must not materially mislead or be likely to do so. (Misleading advertising) and 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).
Action
The ad must not appear again in its current form.
