ASA Upholds Complaints Against CWC

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has upheld a complaint from digital terrestrial broadcaster, ONdigital, in regard to a leaflet distributed by cable company, Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC). ONdigital said that the comparisons made between its platform and CWC’s own digital service were inaccurate and misleading.

CWC’s leaflet contained a table which stated that CWC’s digital platform was more flexible than that of ONdigital; ONdigital replied that its service allowed customers more freedom to choose the channels they wanted. ONdigital also said that it is misleading for CWC to say that it offers more channels, as the group’s basic package included free-to-air channels, to which all licence payers are entitled.

The ASA upheld the former complaint and concluded that both service providers provided different types of flexibility. The latter complaint, however, was not upheld as the Authority decided that a fair comparison between the two platforms was made.

Complaints were also upheld against the Daily Mail and the Mail on Sunday for a front page promotion which offered £3 million worth of travel and cash prizes. Some winners had won Ruth Rendell books and questioned whether these could be described as a cash or travel prize. The Authority decided that the ad was misleading, despite the advertiser’s claim that the book in question was “great reading on your travels.”

Advertising Standards Authority: 020 7580 5555