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Unfair BSkyB advertisement banned by ASA

Claiming that rival broadband service providers Virgin Media and BT slows down speed of customers in Sky network area, this BSkyB advertisement has been banned by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).

This came after BT and a concerned customer came forward to explain that only “heavier” users would experience slower internet speed on peak hours.

BSkyB remained steadfast saying all customers of both broadband service providers are highly likely to be affected by their services and policies regarding traffic management. Further, BSkyB said that broadband speeds are slowed in connections which went over fair use during peak times. Such findings led them to formulate the advertisement, a strategy which led their costly airing down the drain as it has been banned by ASA.

ASA on the other hand announced it found that BT and Virgin Media did have adherent regulations that rendered slower speeds at peak hours for internet connection subscribers who are using popular applications with much larger bandwidths.

But the regulator and watchdog agency stood by their decision to ban the BSkyB advertisement, saying that the claim, “If you’re in a Sky network area, we don’t slow down your broadband speed at peak times – unlike Virgin Media and BT” would have a negative impact on the mindsets of current and potential customers of the two service providers.

It would also be likely that consumers infer to such an unfair claim, said ASA, to those who are currently using web browsing services with lower bandwidths, and mislead them in decision making.

Summing up its decision to ban the BSkyB advertisement, ASA ruled that it breached guidelines on substantiation, comparisons and truthfulness with competitors. They ruled further that the advertisement should not be ever aired again, and warned BSkyB to observe fair practice in advertising.

For additional details about this post, please visit: guardian.co.uk