Sky “misleading” broadband ad banned
March 6, 2019
A TV commercial for Sky’s broadband service has been banned after complaints from rivals BT and Virgin were upheld by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). The duo argued it made misleading claims about the company’s ability to boost home Wi-Fi networks.
The advert, which featured characters from Disney movie The Incredibles 2, showed a Sky employee boosting Wi-Fi throughout the house using just a tablet. But the ASA ruled the ad misled consumers about how easily the company could improve the connection.
In response, Sky said it was clear the boosted connection came as a result of improved broadband service in the house, which would have been carried out by a Sky tech team engineer. But the ASA said the commercial did not make clear what the technician had done to improve the Wi-Fi.
“We considered that because the ad suggested that Sky had made changes to their broadband service resulting in enhanced Wi-Fi, when that was not the case, we concluded that the ad was misleading,” the ASA commented.