UK smacks Apple for another misleading iPhone commercial
By Nilay Patel 
posted Nov 26th 2008 12:13PM
posted Nov 26th 2008 12:13PM
We figured Apple would've learned its lesson after the UK's Advertising Standards Authority banned those "the real internet" iPhone commercials, but it looks like Steve's back in detention -- the ASA just ruled that another ad claiming that the iPhone is "really fast" is also misleading enough to be pulled. You've probably seen the similar US version of the ad, which shows the iPhone 3G loading a web page, switching to Maps to locate itself, downloading an attachment, and then finally taking a call, all in 30 seconds -- yeah, that doesn't happen. Apple claimed that its "Network performance may vary by location" disclaimer was enough to keep it safe, but the ASA wasn't having that: it said that the ad was likely to lead viewers to believe the iPhone was really that speedy. Of course, we're pretty certain most people understand that reality and advertising don't really have anything do with each other, but we're not the ones in charge -- just wait till the ASA finds out that drinking gallons of beer doesn't actually make you more attractive. Check the ad in question after the break.[Thanks, David]
It depends on who is drinking the beer....
I hate the iPhone as much as the next guy but c'mon! You have 30 seconds to run a TV ad, and so much you want to showcase in those 30 seconds. There's no way Apple can use current realtime speeds in their ads, unless they talk about only 1 feature. Apple would have to spend more in creating ads if they were to showcase only one feature per ad, and we'd be annoyed to the extreme by having a bigger hemmorrage of iPhone ads. People have to be reasonable and don't expect every little detail of a commercial to be true to reality.
I beg to differ. In this ad they are specifically showcasing the speed of the "iPhone 3G", letting the viewer believe that they show the performance in "real time". There are many ways to do this in a more honest way - a minor one would be to quickly change scene between each operation..
Also the expectation of "truth in advertising" is quite a bit higher in EU/Europe than in the US. You can certainly see from other aspects of this ad (the basic introduction to what "3G" means) that this is an ad that was primarily targeting the US market, simply changing the accent of the person speaking for the UK.
How amazing would it be if the US were to start actually making companies tell the truth in their ads? Just dreaming, but it'd be nice...
Do you think an unregulated advertising medium where people can say what they want regardless of fact would be better? By keeping those misleading advertisers like apple in check in helps guarantee standards and reliability in the adverts we see. The majority of companies have no trouble keeping to this and it is very rare that an advert is upheld to be misleading.
If apple want to show off how fast and usable their product is you can't excuse them by saying "but it would take ages to show that", because thats the point. The ads are misleading and that is not tolerated. I hope their exposure hasn't duped too many people into committing to a product for 18 months that is not as advertised. You wouldn't accept a flashy Ferrari if it performed like a Lada. I hope the world starts to see through apple and the hollow company it is.