Cell C taken to task over “misleading” ad
The Advertising Standards Authority of South Africa (ASA) ruled that an “R89 for 1.2GB” Cell C advertisement is misleading, and should be withdrawn with immediate effect.
A brochure promoting Cell C’s “Data deals you can believe in” punted various products, including a pre-paid deal offering 1.2GB for R89 once off.
One consumer was not happy with this advertisement, arguing he “bought it for R89 only to find out I was buying 100MB which is alienated for 12 months”.
He said he felt cheated by the large, bold lettering “1.2GB” which is done deliberately to deceive and mislead customers.
Cell C responded, saying that the advertisement does not have the headline “1.2 Gig for R89” as implied by the complainant.
“The communication about the price and the monthly breakdown are in the same font and size, and as close to each other as can reasonably be expected,” said Cell C.
“In addition, the breakdown “100MB X 12” is on the left-hand side, as most South African consumers read from left to right. There is no attempt to hide or disguise the fact that the 1.2 GB is broken down into available units of 100MB a month for 12 months.”
The ASA was not convinced, saying that the inconsistency in the advertisement creates ambiguity, and a reasonable person could be forgiven for incorrectly expecting the total, accumulative value to be available immediately.
“The fact that this is a pre-paid offer (which arguably has an expectation of immediate availability) exacerbates the ambiguity,” the ASA said.
The ASA ruled that the advertisement is misleading, and that it must be withdrawn with immediate effect.
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