Bulldog collared over broadband ads

By Alun Williams

Posted on 6 Jul 2005 at 13:33

Bulldog has had its paws rapped by the ASA (Advertising Standards Authority) over radio broadcasts for its 4Mbps broadband.

At issue were claims for the speed of the service. According to the broadcast: 'Bulldog broadband want to give you all the internet you can eat and the best service in town. How? Simple: Bulldog speaks to you like a person not a boffin, so it's more of 'two plus two equals four' and less of 'E=MC2'. We'll give you a super-fast 4 meg broadband so your downloads are more [sound of a speeding car] and less [sound of a car failing to start].'

A complainant objected that the advertisement was misleading, because he had never experienced a download speed of 4mbps using the service. The response of the provider, of course, is that the figures refer to the maximum possible throughput that can be achieved under optimum conditions, which won't necessarily exist.

Bulldog said the advertisement stated 'conditions apply' and also directed listeners to its website for further details. Not all other service providers, it stated, have used the phrase 'up to' in similar ads.

The ASA, however, decided that without clearer qualification, listeners were likely be misled by the claim and ruled that the advertisement was in breach of CAP Radio Advertising Standards.

Another listener objected to the claim that the advertiser's broadband was available for under £20, because you had to purchase a phone line from Bulldog, at a cost of £10.50 a month, in order to use the broadband.

Again, the ASA upheld the complaint, declaring: 'We agreed with the RACC and the advertiser that, like with other broadband services, the cost of the phone line did not need to be included in the price of the broadband service. However, the advertisement should have made clear that listeners would also require a phone line from Bulldog. Because the advertisement did not make that clear we concluded that it was misleading.'

As if that wasn't enough, another version of the ad was rapidly pulled by Bulldog.

'Bulldog is Britain's fastest broadband for under 20 quid. Four megabytes of unlimited access giving you more of what you want, whenever you want it ... at Bulldog we like to keep things simple.'

It was pointed out that it should be four megabits rather than four megabytes. Meaning the speed was increased by a factor of eight.

You can read the full adjudication on the ASA website.