The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has banned two Virgin Media ads for not providing enough verification for its broadband speed claims.
The Virgin Media website and TV advertisements both claimed that the company was “the fastest major broadband provider”, stating in the smaller on-screen text that the claim was based on “Gig1 Fibre avg download speed 1,130Mbps vs avg download speeds of major UK ISPs”.
Both ads provided access to further median download speed data from other UK providers. The website listed this data further down the page, while the TV ad gave a link to “Virginmedia.com/speed-comparison”.
Based on the fact that the Gig1 Fibre service is only available in certain areas of the UK, rival network company BT asked the ASA to investigate whether Virgin’s ‘fastest major broadband provider’ claims were misleading and if they could be substantiated and verified.
Virgin responded by stating that its Gig1 Fibre service had a median peak download speed of 1,136Mbps and that the next fastest median peak time download speed in the UK was provided by BT at 910Mbps.
READ MORE: Virgin Atlantic unveils first ad campaign since the beginning of Covid-19
“The claim was about Virgin Media’s status as a broadband provider relative to its competitors, and not a comparison of the availability of services throughout the UK,” the ASA added.
“Clearcast, responding in relation to the TV ad, endorsed Virgin Media’s comments also.”
In response to whether the claims were properly verified in the advertisements, the network company said that it would not have been “necessary or helpful” for members of the public to see the data used to calculate the median download speed of its Gig1 Fibre service, because it was “complicated to digest”.
Virgin also claimed to follow Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) guidance in relation to the presentation of broadband speeds and reviewed the Gig1 Fibre service data, in line with Ofcom’s code of practice.
Ultimately, however, the ASA ruled that in order for consumers to verify the broadband speed comparisons, further information needed to be provided about the methodology used to calculate the figure for Virgin Media’s own speed.
The self-regulatory authority concluded: “Because that had not been provided, we concluded the verification information was not sufficient to allow consumers or competitors to understand the comparison, and as such, the claim as it appeared in both ads was not verifiable.”
“The ads must not appear again in the form complained about. We told Virgin Media Ltd to ensure they included sufficient information to allow consumers and competitors to verify the comparisons made in their advertising.”
Click here to sign up to Marketing Beat’s free daily email newsletter
