ADSL Broadband
Best Broadband
Cable Broadband
Free Broadband
Fastest Broadband
20Mb Broadband
50Mb Broadband
Fibre-Optic Broadband
ASA bans TalkTalk advertisement
Thursday 3rd March 2011, by Daniel King
Talk Talk has been criticised for running advertisements which offer broadband users a potentially misleading incentive to switch.
The broadband provider was found by the Advertising Standards Agency to have breached several parts of the CAP code - standards set for advertising, sales promotion and direct marketing.
Both BT and Plusnet filed a complaint to the ASA, which was today upheld, resulting in a ban of the advertisement in its current form.
The regional press advertisment stated that with one of TalkTalk's phone and broadband packages, customers could "save up to £154 over 18 months vs BT".
In addition, the company said it offered "unbeatable value phone and broadband" priced at £6.99 per month.
BT challenged the advertisement, arguing that the package TalkTalk had used to make the comparison was not accurate and did not use the BT offer most comparable to its own.
Plusnet argued that Talk Talk's claim that it offered "unbeatlable value" was misleading as it believed it offered a comparable package in the region where the marketing was published.
In response, TalkTalk said it had used BT's most comparable available package of inclusive benefits, but a difference in additional features between the two packages meant it was not possible to match a BT offer with TalkTalk's Essentials package.
In respose to Plusnet's challenge, TalkTalk said its use of value was indicative of a concept that was not solely assessed on price, but on features such as download limits and potential speeds.
The watchdog found that the advertising was misleading due to the comparisons made between its packages and that of its competitors, and comparisons made on price.
An advert by BT comparing its packages to Sky was recently banned by the ASA after it was found to be in breach of rules on substantiation, truthfulness and comparisons with identified competitors.
Categories: TalkTalk
