BT receives negligible telling off for misleading broadband ads

BT’s UK ads featuring Ryan Reynolds accessing his domestic wifi while dangling from a helicopter have somehow been found to be unrepresentative of real life.

The Advertising Standards Authority received 35 complaints, inevitably some of which came from BT competitors, about the ad. They questioned whether the BT Smart Hub could cover the distance implied in the helicopter ad and also BT claims that its router offered ‘the UK’s most powerful wifi signal’ and that it offers superior coverage.

The ASA found that the ‘most powerful’ claim could have been interpreted as applying to every single router available, despite some on-screen small print saying the comparison was just with those routers offered by other major broadband providers. A similar conclusion was reached regarding the coverage claim.

On that basis the ASA upheld those complaints, while dismissing one regarding range. It seems to have been quite thorough and even handed but as ever the ruling is almost totally irrelevant. BT is apparently not allowed to show those ads anymore, but since that campaign started a year ago that doesn’t really matter and any misleading damage has already been done. Furthermore you can still find the apparently unaltered ad on BT’s YouTube channel…