ASA censures Virgin because small print "contradicted, not clarified" main claims

A Virgin circular distributed to householders that referred to the company's work in installing fibre optic cables in their street was misleading because it suggested to a consumer that they would be able to access Virgin's broadband and digital TV services when this was not the case, ASA said.

Although Virgin had detailed in the small print of its circular that "individual premises" may not be able to be connected to its services in addition to other qualifications, ASA ruled that the qualifications had contradicted and not clarified the claims the telecoms firm made. It therefore ruled that the claims in the ad had been misleading, unsubstantiated and not suitably qualified and ordered the ad not to be used again in its current form.

"We considered the ad would be understood to mean the recipient could receive Virgin Media services," ASA said in its ruling.

"We noted the ad included the small print 'SERVICES AVAILABLE IN VIRGIN MEDIA CABLED STREETS … In limited cases, cabling may not extend from the street to individual premises.  A survey will confirm this as soon as possible after enquiries being made. Check if your home's connected at virginmedia.com …' however, we considered that contradicted, rather than clarified, the impression given by the claims that the recipient's property was ready to receive the advertised services.  We noted that was not the case and therefore concluded that the ad was misleading," it said.

"The ad must not appear again in its current form. We told Virgin Media to ensure they did not in future state or imply that consumers were likely to be able to obtain their services if that was not the case," the watchdog said.

Virgin had claimed that the "average consumer" would have understood the information contained on its circular to mean that on "very rare occasions" the company would not have been able to connect properties to its telecoms services. It had therefore refuted claims that the mailing was misleading. However, ASA rejected the company's arguments.

Virgin has said that it has made changes to its sales system in a bid to ensure that "direct mail would be sent only to addresses that were shown as 'serviceable' both on their sales system and postcode checker," according to the ASA adjudication.

Under the Code of Non-broadcast Advertising, Sales Promotion and Direct Marketing (CAP Code) marketing communications that are materially misleading or likely to mislead are prohibited.

The Code further requires companies, before they place ads, to "hold documentary evidence ... that consumers are likely to regard as objective and that are capable of objective substantiation" in order to "prove claims" they make in their marketing communications.

In addition, advertisers must clearly state any significant qualifications to claims they make. The qualifications "may clarify but must not contradict the claims that they qualify," according to the Code.