Vodafone radio ad banned for racing through terms and conditions voice over
13 Sep 2008
London: A radio advertisement for Vodafone, made by British advertising agency Bartle Bogle Hegarty, has been banned by the UK's Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) because the terms and conditions part of the advertisement were spoken too quickly.
The radio ad has a man speaking in the style of a weather forecaster, talking about a package of unlimited text messaging, calls, e-mail and mobile internet, followed by a quick-paced commentary by a woman outlining the limitations of the deal.
In the ad, the man says, "With Vodafone's Endless Summer you can now get unlimited texts, calls, e-mail and mobile internet with our scorching new price plans, so you'll never be burnt by your bill again. Visit us in store. Vodafone - make the most of now."
At the end of the ad, the woman's monologue, at a faster speed as compared to the preceding ad announces, "Subject to status, availability and connection to 18-month contract. Unlimited calls to landline or Vodafone mobiles only. Fair-use policy, terms and 60-minute call cap applies," and a website address concludes.
Ruling on a complaint that the second part of the ad, where the limitations were spoken, the ASA upheld that second part of the ad was spoken too quickly to be coherent, and was difficult to hear.
In its ruling, the ASA said that it concluded that the important terms and conditions were not clearly audible, and could be misleading to listeners as they were ''delivered too quickly''.
In its defence, Vodafone said the qualifications spoken by the women were in her 'natural' voice. It said that the less-than eight second long disclaimer had not been sped up post-production, and that they would not mislead.
However, the ASA's ruling still stands, and the ad will no longer be broadcast. The ASA had recently ruled against Apple for its misleading iPhone ads, and against Virgin Media for sending bullet-hole mail through people's letterboxes that did not clearly identify itself as marketing material.
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