Apple iPhone advert banned for misleading viewers
The Apple iPhone 3G is a brilliant piece of technology, combining all the normal uses of a cellphone with the capability to go online, download apps, play games, and much more besides. But Apple still felt the need to exaggerate some aspects of the device in its UK launch adverts. Which have now been banned.
I’m not usually a fan of Apple, and don’t own any of its products. So why do I write articles for iPhoneTouch? Because the iPhone is the one Apple product that I harbor a real longing for. The only reason I haven’t got one yet is because of the stupidly high cost of buying one, and the equally high monthly contract payments in the UK.
When I saw the television adverts for the launch of the iPhone 3G, I was mightily impressed at how speedy everything was. The adverts showed an application being download and installed to the iPhone 3G in double quick time. It also showed news pages and Google Maps loading very quickly.
Unfortunately, it seems Apple took some liberties with the advert, speeding the process up by quite a margin, and even cutting out certain steps required to download and install apps. A disclaimer was then added to the end of the ad in very small print noting “Steps removed and sequence shortened. Network speeds may vary.”
According to BBC News, 17 people complained about how misleading the advert was, and the ASA (Advertising Standards Authority) has upheld those complaints and called for the advert to be banned in its present state. It’s likely that Apple will scrap the ads altogether rather than show the longer, more painful process in its true form.
Apple has responded to the ban by stating its claims were “relative, not absolute”. But this isn’t the first instance of an advert for the iPhone being pulled up due to exaggerations over its performance. iPhone ads in the U.S. were also found to be misleading, with the video embedded below showing ‘Advertising Land’ versus the ‘Real World’.
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