TalkTalk’s ‘UK’s safest broadband’ ad banned by the ASA

It’s one thing when a company advertises and boasts of only true things about a certain product or service. But it’s a completely different one when what they’re talking about in the ad aren’t true or are merely padded-up versions of the truth.

This is particularly why the Advertising Standards Authority moved to bring in stricter measures and guidelines when it came to advertising last year.  The new rules were a result of concern stemming from the ASA and from the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) about whether consumers were actually getting what they were paying for from broadband companies based on their advertisements.

TalkTalk has already been reprimanded over an ad for its new Internet security system which claimed that HomeSafe is the “UK’s safest broadband.” The ad was banned after BT Broadband sent in a complaint over TalkTalk’s promotional materials that made the aforementioned claim about HomeSafe. Aside from BT, two members of the public also challenged TalkTalk’s claim, saying that it was misleading and breached the advertising code.

TalkTalk argued that their ad was legitimate, since it was the only ISP in the UK that applied security features at a “network” level. This means that alerts are provided when a user attempts to access a site with potential viruses. HomeSafe allows parents to restrict or block access to certain websites, which is a marked different from the usual anti-virus programs that have to be installed on a user’s computer or laptop for use.

The ASA has since responded that the claim and TalkTalk’s images accompanying the line in their ads made the implication that consumers would be able to have the safest online experience of any provider with their service. In its ruling, the advertisement regulator explained that the majority of Internet users wouldn’t be able to understand what “network security level” would mean, implying that it could be misinterpreted quite easily as a result.

The ASA made the decision that the ad itself was misleading and banned it afterwards.

Source – The Guardian