ASA demands Orange pull ‘misleading’ broadband ad

Orange has been banned from using a press ad for its home broadband service after it made misleading claims about offering unlimited calls.

The ban comes despite the mobile phone operator being warned by the Advertising Standards Authority on “at least two other occasions” about making similar claims in its advertising.

The ASA upheld a complaint from rival operator T-Mobile that the ad offered “unlimited UK and international calls to 100 countries” but did not state that it was subject to a fair usage policy of 1,000 minutes per month.

Orange admitted it had failed to acknowledge this policy in the smallprint of the ad and claimed it was the result of a production error.

The ASA pointed out the operator had blamed similar productions errors for a failure to mention the policy in previous executions. It also said it was concerned that Orange had failed to act despite being warned in the past.

Orange argued that just 1.96% of its customers had exceeded the fair usage limit of 1,000 minutes per month and no action had been taken against these customers to enforce the fair usage policy. The mobile phone operator also claimed that it had no future plans to use the ad, which was created in house.

• Meanwhile, the ASA has not upheld a complaint that a TV ad for Feasters micro-waveable burgers disparaged good dietary practice.

  The execution showed a teenage boy looking into a fridge and opting for a Feasters cheese burger after turning down sausages, peppers and fish.

  The ASA said the ad was “finely balanced” and did not suggest that the cheese burger was a better option than fresh vegetables.