Vodafone allowed "unlimited internet" claims

 

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By Matthew Sparkes

Posted on 17 Sep 2008 at 10:43

The Advertising Standards Agency has ruled a Vodafone advertisement promoting "unlimited" internet access, which actually had a limit of 500MB, is acceptable, despite huge numbers of complaints from the public.

The decision followed 21 complaints made to the ASA claiming that the use of the word unlimited was misleading as there was, in fact, a limit to the amount of data that customers could use before being charged further. The complaints referred to a mixed-media campaign from the supplier, which included billboard, magazine and television adverts.

"Don't get left in the dark. Unlimited Facebook* on Vodafone. Make the most of now," exclaimed the billboard advertisement, before admitting lower down, and in considerably smaller font, the "Web Browsing Pack has a monthly data allowance of 500MB." A similar claim was made in both the television and magazine adverts run in the same campaign.

Although it is rare for an advert to receive such a high number of complaints, the ASA decided there was nothing misleading about the campaign and has allowed their continuing use.

"The ASA noted all the ads made clear that a fair-use policy applied to the service and the level at which the allowance was set. We acknowledged that the vast majority of customers used only a small amount of the available allowance and concluded that the existence of a fair-use policy did not contradict the claim 'unlimited mobile internet'," says the adjudication.

As well as allowing this particular advert, the ASA looks set to continue its stance on "unlimited internet" advertising, despite pressure from consumers.

"They way it works at the moment is that it is unlimited for the majority of users. It's only a tiny minority of users that would receive a warning. We think that while it's a tiny minority its okay," an ASA spokesperson told PC Pro this morning.