Apple iPhone TV advert banned

The UK’s advertising watchdog have banned a TV advert for Apple’s iPhone saying that they have over-hyped the internet capabilities of the smart phone and mislead consumers.

The Advert that showed the iPhone looking through the internet, with images zooming in and out, in one shot it shows a weather forecast for Cape Town then a map how to get to Heathrow airport, the stylish transition looking truly amazing and a iPhone voiceover on the advert saying “You never know which part of the internet you’ll need … which is why all the parts of the internet are on the iPhone,”
There were only two complaints received by the Advertising standards Authority both claiming that the advert was misleading as the iPhone does not support Java or Flash, which are both vital for many web pages to be viewed correctly.

The iPhone can offer access to all internet websites; the advert was to highlight how other handsets that offer lower-level access to WAP cannot match the iPhone at present. Apple reported.

Apple said that the web browser the iPhone uses, Safari, was built to open internet standards. Flash and Java technology were not open source, said Apple, adding that it could not ensure compatibility with “every third-party technology in the marketplace”.

The U.S. computer giant said that none of the content in the ad was Java or Flash-based and that the line “all parts of the internet” meant website availability, “not every aspect of functionality”.

Clearcast, the advertising pre-vetting service said they had given the go-ahead for the advert after demonstration and the advertiser’s assurances.

Although the ASA said that claims made by Apple implied that “users would be able to access all websites and see them in their entirety”.

It was concluded by the ASA that “the ad gave a misleading impression of the internet capabilities of the iPhone” and that the advert had not explained the limitations of the iPhone.

The TV advert must not be broadcast again in the same form the ASA ordered.

Source: guardian

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