Complaints Against BSkyB Ad

A BSkyB advertisement in the national press criticising the BBC’s sports coverage drew complaints on the grounds that it was misleading, it is reported in the Advertising Standards Authority’s latest monthly report.

The ad was headlined “Question: How much live coverage did the BBC ever give to England’s overseas test matches against Australia, the West Indies, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and New Zealand?” and on the next page the ad continued “Answer: None – Only Sky has been prepared to give cricket fans the chance to watch live ball by ball coverage of all England’s overseas test cricket matches since 1990.”

Complainants believed the ad was misleading because the BBC had provided radio coverage and also because they believed the BBC had wanted to cover the matches. The complaints were not upheld however because the words “watch live ball by ball coverage” made it clear only tv coverage was referred to and the BBC had never made a bid for the coverage.

There was also a complaint made by a church group against a Carlsberg-Tetley poster which featured a cartoon depicting ‘brewer’s droop’ syndrome and against a Renault brochure campaign which compared the shape of its new Megane model to that of a naked woman. Both complaints were not upheld: the ASA believed the Carlsberg ad played humorously on a well-known joke and the Renault ad was justified in a comparison which was unlikely to cause serious offence.

ASA: 0171 580 5555