Ad description
A website and a TV ad for Sky, seen on 10 June 2020:
a. The website www.sky.com, stated "With Speed Guarantee as standard, we'll guarantee you get the speed we promised, or money back".
b. The television ad stated "Sky Broadband Superfast … Speed Guarantee … or money back" superimposed text towards the end of the ad stated "Refund is 1 month's subscription".
Issue
The complainant, who understood that the refund was applied to consumers' accounts as credit, challenged whether the claim "money back" in ads (a) and (b) was misleading.Response
Sky UK Ltd said that under the Speed Guarantee, money was typically returned to consumers as credit on their Sky Broadband account which in turn was automatically applied to the following month’s bill payment. They said money could be refunded to consumers’ bank accounts on request. They said that, because consumers had an ongoing commitment to continue paying Sky for their broadband service, they did not consider the use of the term “money back” misleading since the money was returned to consumers by way of being subtracted from the next payment that they were committed to make to Sky. They said that if a consumer was owed money under the guarantee but was no longer a Sky customer, the money would be returned to their bank account.
Clearcast said they had cleared ad (b) on the basis that the claim “Refund is 1 month’s subscription” was added to the superimposed text to make it clear to viewers how much they would get back if they did have to make a claim under the guarantee. They said they did not feel it was necessary for Sky to elaborate on the options viewers would have on how they received their refund and that a link in the superimposed text to where that information could be found was sufficient.
Assessment
Not upheld
The ASA considered that consumers would understand the claim “money back”, in the context of ad (a) to mean that if Sky’s broadband service did not achieve the speed stipulated in their contract with Sky, they would receive a refund, and in the context of ad (b) – which included superimposed text – to mean that refund would amount to the cost of one month’s subscription. We understood that under Sky’s “Speed Guarantee”, consumers would receive a refund, credited to their account, amounting to the cost of one month’s broadband subscription payments. That credit would then be applied to their next monthly bill. We also understood that consumers who were no longer Sky customers at the time of the refund being paid would receive the refund into their bank account.
We noted the superimposed text in ad (b) featured the claim “Refund is 1 month’s subscription”, which we considered clarified how the money would be refunded to consumers – namely in the form of a month’s broadband subscription, rather than as cash. We understood that Sky provided broadband as part of an ongoing contractual obligation to their customers, with money being due on a monthly basis. We considered that consumers would typically owe Sky money the following month for their broadband service, and so would not necessarily expect any refund to be paid as cash that could be withdrawn; we therefore concluded that the claim “money back” was not misleading.
We investigated ad (a) under CAP Code (Edition 12) rules
3.1
3.1
The standards objectives, insofar as they relate to advertising, include:
a) that persons under the age of 18 are protected;
b) that material likely to encourage or incite the commission of crime or lead to disorder is not included in television and radio services;
c) that the proper degree of responsibility is exercised with respect to the content of programmes which are religious programmes;
d) that generally accepted standards are applied to the contents of television and radio services so as to provide adequate protection for members of the public from inclusion in such services of offensive and harmful material;
e) that the inclusion of advertising which may be misleading, harmful or offensive in television and radio services is prevented;
f) that the international obligations of the United Kingdom with respect to advertising included in television and radio services are complied with [in particular in respect of television those obligations set out in Articles 3b, 3e,10, 14, 15, 19, 20 and 22 of Directive 89/552/EEC (the Audi Visual Media Services Directive)];
g) that there is no use of techniques which exploit the possibility of conveying a message to viewers or listeners, or of otherwise influencing their minds, without their being aware, or fully aware, of what has occurred"
Section
3.9
3.9
Broadcasters must hold documentary evidence to prove claims that the audience is likely to regard as objective and that are capable of objective substantiation. The ASA may regard claims as misleading in the absence of adequate substantiation.
2).
and
3.3
3.3
For advertisements that quote prices for an advertised product or service, material information [for the purposes of rule
3.2
3.2
Advertisements must not mislead consumers by omitting material information. They must not mislead by hiding material information or presenting it in an unclear, unintelligible, ambiguous or untimely manner.
Material information is information that consumers need in context to make informed decisions about whether or how to buy a product or service. Whether the omission or presentation of material information is likely to mislead consumers depends on the context, the medium and, if the medium of the advertisement is constrained by time or space, the measures that the advertiser takes to make that information available to consumers by other means.
includes:
(Misleading advertising), and
3.9
3.9
Broadcasters must hold documentary evidence to prove claims that the audience is likely to regard as objective and that are capable of objective substantiation. The ASA may regard claims as misleading in the absence of adequate substantiation.
and
3.10
3.10
Advertisements must state significant limitations and qualifications. Qualifications may clarify but must not contradict the claims that they qualify.
(Qualification), but did not find it in breach. We investigated ad (b) under BCAP Code rules
3.1
3.1
The standards objectives, insofar as they relate to advertising, include:
a) that persons under the age of 18 are protected;
b) that material likely to encourage or incite the commission of crime or lead to disorder is not included in television and radio services;
c) that the proper degree of responsibility is exercised with respect to the content of programmes which are religious programmes;
d) that generally accepted standards are applied to the contents of television and radio services so as to provide adequate protection for members of the public from inclusion in such services of offensive and harmful material;
e) that the inclusion of advertising which may be misleading, harmful or offensive in television and radio services is prevented;
f) that the international obligations of the United Kingdom with respect to advertising included in television and radio services are complied with [in particular in respect of television those obligations set out in Articles 3b, 3e,10, 14, 15, 19, 20 and 22 of Directive 89/552/EEC (the Audi Visual Media Services Directive)];
g) that there is no use of techniques which exploit the possibility of conveying a message to viewers or listeners, or of otherwise influencing their minds, without their being aware, or fully aware, of what has occurred"
Section
3.9
3.9
Broadcasters must hold documentary evidence to prove claims that the audience is likely to regard as objective and that are capable of objective substantiation. The ASA may regard claims as misleading in the absence of adequate substantiation.
2).
and
3.2
3.2
In setting or revising any such standards, Ofcom must have regard, in particular and to such extent as appears to them to be relevant to the securing of the standards objectives, to each of these matters:
a) the degree of harm or offence likely to be caused by the inclusion of any particular sort of material in programmes generally, or in programmes of a particular description;
b) the likely size and composition of a potential audience for programmes included in television and radio services generally, or in television and radio services of a particular description;
c) the likely expectation of the audience as to the nature of a programme's content and the extent to which the nature of the programme's content can be brought to the attention of potential members of the audience;
d) the likelihood of persons who are unaware of the nature of the programme's content being unintentionally exposed, by their own actions, to that content;
e) the desirability of securing that the content of services identifies when there is a change affecting the nature of a service that is being watched or listened to and, in particular, a change that is relevant to the application of the standards set under this section...".
Section
3.9
3.9
Broadcasters must hold documentary evidence to prove claims that the audience is likely to regard as objective and that are capable of objective substantiation. The ASA may regard claims as misleading in the absence of adequate substantiation.
4).
(Misleading advertising), and
3.10
3.10
Advertisements must state significant limitations and qualifications. Qualifications may clarify but must not contradict the claims that they qualify.
(Qualification), but did not find it in breach.
Action
No further action necessary.
