Virgin ‘broadband con’ ads slated by Sky

The online ‘broadband honesty’ advertisements that are being run by entertainment and media giant Virgin Media have come under fire with a rival provider dubbing them ‘grossly misleading’.

It has been revealed that controversy has erupted over the ‘broadband honesty’ advertising campaign that is being run by entertainment and media giant Virgin Media. The ad campaign is being run online and is designed to ‘stop the broadband con’ and stop consumers from getting deceived by false promises made by other internet providers.

However, rival broadband giant Sky has slammed the advertising campaign from Virgin, claiming that it is grossly misleading. Lawyers working on behalf of Sky have said that they want the Advertising Standards Authority to carry out an investigation of the advertising campaign because the satellite provider believes that it “wrongly implies” than certain internet service providers “dishonestly deceive consumers”.

Virgin is said to have posted adverts on YouTube that appear to be referring the ‘Fairytales’ broadband campaign from Sky, which state “learn from Aladdin… don’t get conned this Christmas”. Sky’s lawyers said that the adverts gave the impression “that Sky ‘say they’ll give you superfast broadband but deliver a service stuck in the slow lane’”.

A spokesperson for Sky said: “All ISPs provide individual line speed estimates before any customer signs up, meaning consumers are making informed decisions about which broadband services are right for them. It helps [to] explain the high broadband satisfaction levels Ofcom found in its own research. On that basis, we’ve asked the ASA to investigate Virgin Media’s campaign, which it now is.”

Do you find these ads to be misleading? Let us know with your comments.

Source – Digital Spy