BSkyB ad banned for misleading 'just for you' line

By Loulla-Mae Eleftheriou-Smith, campaignlive.co.uk, Wednesday, 22 February 2012 09:10AM

BSkyB has had an ad for its movie channels and broadband service banned by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) for misleading consumers, after the ad sparked more than 80 complaints.

BSkyB: ad for its movie channels and broadband service banned by the ASA

The Brothers and Sisters-created TV ad, which aired on 22 November last year, said: "Welcome to the world of better offers. If you've got Sky Movies 1 and 2 with Sky's unlimited broadband, then this offer is just for you. Enjoy a free wireless connector for your Sky+HD box so you can access Anytime+ and enjoy movies whenever you want."

On-screen text for the ad said: "New Anytime customers only. Compatible Sky+HD box, Sky Talk and Sky line rental required."

The ad received 86 complaints from consumers, claiming that the condition for the deal, which was only for new Anytime customers, was not clearly enough stated.

Sky responded to the complaints stating that it did not believe the ad was misleading and that it had appropriately qualified the conditions of the offer, which broadcasting regulator Clearcast agreed with.

The ASA agreed with the initial qualifying text on the screen, but said the line, "If you've got Sky Movies 1 and 2 with Sky's unlimited broadband, then this offer is just for you", implied the offer was open to a broader range of Sky customers, and it banned the ad.

In November last year, BSkyB successfully petitioned the ASA to have a direct mail ad campaign, run by rival Virgin Media, banned, because it was not obviously identifiable as a marketing communication.

Follow Loulla-Mae Eleftheriou-Smith on Twitter @LoullaMae_ES

This article was first published on campaignlive.co.uk