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A Virgin Media online advertisement has been banned by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) for misleading customers regarding its Wi-Fi speeds
The advert launched in September last year on Virgin Media’s website, in which the company claimed that they could provide the “UK’s Fastest Wi-Fi Guarantee” in “every room or money back”.
The advert claimed that Virgin Media customers could get the “fastest Wi-Fi guarantee of any major provider”– a statement investigated by the ASA after a complaint was made by Virgin’s competitor Vodafone.
The watchdog noted that the majority of customers would take the advertisement to mean that Virgin Media Wi-Fi was faster than competitors, which is not the case.
It appears, then, that the advertisement was mostly a PR stunt; if the advertised speeds were not available for customers, they would receive a one-off payment of £100. Although these details were provided to the customer, the ASA ruled that they were not sufficient enough to override the general customer assumption of the advertisement. There is a difference, albeit subtle, between guaranteeing the highest speed and offering a guarantee which promised action by the advertiser if a minimum speed is not met.
Virgin Media have described the results as “baffling”, maintaining that they do provide a faster minimum speed than competitors.
“The difference between guaranteeing the highest speed and offering a guarantee which promised action by the advertiser if a minimum speed was not met was a subtle one,” said the ASA in its decision.
As a result of the decision, Virgin Media is not allowed to run the ad and has been told to ensure that future ads do not imply that they can guarantee the fastest Wi-Fi service of all major broadband providers if this is not the case.
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