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Wednesday 17th May 2006
ASA knocks PC World laptop ad 12:19PM, Wednesday 17th May 2006
PC World has fallen foul of the Advertising Standards Authority over a recent TV ad for the Toshiba Qosmio F20 136 laptop.

The advertisement showed a store assistant describing it as having 'Intel Centrino mobile technology ... so you can connect to the Internet wirelessly ... it's our lowest ever priced Qosmio and at £999 they're going fast.'

Objections were received by the ASA over the ad being misleading - that it omitted to mention that in addition to the laptop itself additional equipment was needed, such as a wireless modem and router, before wireless Internet access was possible.

PC World responded that that the scenario it had
 
 
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in mind was wireless Hot Spot access, arguing that this was typical wireless access for a mobile user. The ASA didn't agree, however. It considered that consumers would be just as likely to use a laptop at home as away from it, and pointed out that the ad had not made any reference to wireless connections using a hotspot.

It ruled that the ad had breached CAP (Broadcast) TV Advertising Standards Code rules 5.1 (Misleading advertising), 5.2.1 (Evidence), 5.2.2 (Implications) and 5.2.3 (Qualifications). It will not be shown in the same format.

Another objection was that the ad did not make it clear that an Internet connection was required when, in fact, wireless Internet coverage was limited. The ASA rejected this complaint, however. PC World said it did not believe the line 'so you can connect to the Internet wirelessly' implied a claim about the extent of availability of wireless connectivity, and the ASA agreed.

You can read the full ruling (PDF) here.

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