iPhone ad banned by ASA

Apple misleads over internet capabilities of phone

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26 November 2008 10:28 GMT / By Katie Scott

Apple has been given a telling-off by the Advertising Standards Agency.

The ASA has banned an iPhone 3G ad which it claims was misleading over the speeds that the smartphone can connect to the internet and download content.

The TV advert claims that the iPhone can access the internet "really fast".

However, following on from 17 complaints, the ASA has now ruled that this exaggerates the prowess of the phone.

The ASA argued that, "many [consumers] might not be fully aware of the technical differences between the different types of technology", and so the speedy visuals of the internet being used on one of the smartphones in the ad would, "lead viewers to believe that the device actually operated at or near to the speeds shown in the ad".

Apple UK has responded by saying that the claims made in the advert were, "relative rather than absolute in nature".

It also suggested that it was a comparison between the first gen iPhone and the new model.

This is the second time the ASA has banned an iPhone ad - a similar wrangle happened over an advert for the first generation model in August.