Tiscali censured for shouting £9.99 too loudly

 

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By Barry Collins

Posted on 25 Jul 2007 at 10:12

Tiscali has fallen foul of the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) for failing to shout loudly enough about the true cost of its broadband.

Rival BT and two members of the public complained about a Tiscali radio ad in which a man "repeatedly sings" the price of £9.99 for the company's broadband service.

The price is repeated several more times, before the man states the terms and conditions at the end of the advert, which in a hurried, hushed voice state that the price is actually "£9.99 a month for the first three months, then £14.99".

BT and the two members of the public claimed the ad was misleading and the ASA agreed. Its adjudication notes, "Tiscali's argument that although it was spoken more quickly than all of the preceding information in the ad, the £14.99 price increase after three months was spoken clearly."

However, it goes on to add that the "emphasis of the ad was on the £9.99 introductory price, which was repeated many times and at a louder volume than the single reference to the £14.99 price which, in contrast, was mentioned once, quickly and softly."

In its failed defence, Tiscali accused BT of hypocrisy, claiming that "a current BT national press ad displayed a price of £8.95 with the £17.99 thereafter price within their disclaimer in very small print."

Tiscali also said "there was a lot to fit in to 30 seconds and therefore the disclaimer was read more quickly than the main body of the ad" and that it "did not feel the need to 'shout' out a disclaimer as long as it was clear."

Clearly the ISP will have to speak up in future.