ASA takes dim view of Vodafone's "unlimited" data ads

 

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By Barry Collins

Posted on 11 Jun 2008 at 09:44

Vodafone has become the latest company to face a rebuke from the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) for over-egging its mobile data advertising.

A poster campaign for Vodafone's mobile phone internet service stated "Any website, any time. £7.50 a month."

As ever, the devil was in the detail of the small print, which stated the offer was "handset dependent. Includes 120MB UK data allowance per month."

The sole complainant argued that the ad misleadingly implied Vodafone offered unlimited data for £7.50 a month - a conclusion that drew sympathy from the ASA, which upheld the complaint against Vodafone.

In its defence, Vodafone disingenuously attempted to define the word 'any' as meaning "some, or even the smallest amount of".

In fact, Vodafone appears to have lifted its definition straight out of the Collins English Dictionary, but what the mobile giant fails to mention is that it has taken the definition completely out of context.

Vodafone's linguistic contortions failed to wash with the ASA, which ruled that consumers would "infer from the headline claim that they could access the internet as often as they liked for £7.50 a month."

Vodafone has been told not to run the ads again.