In December 2002, in what was believed to be the UK's first direct marketing campaign of its kind, Twentieth Century Fox sent recorded promotional messages to 27,000 consumers.
Automated calls went to mobile phones with a sound clip from the film in which a breathless Tom Cruise asked, "Where is my minority report?," followed by a voiceover urging them not to miss out on the film.
The UK's Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) launched an investigation following 18 complaints from mobile phone users who received the messages. The complainants said that they found Tom Cruise's tone of voice inappropriate and offensive, and suggested that the ad could be mistaken for a nuisance call.
They also objected to being charged to collect the message because, if their phones were turned off when the call was made, they had to listen to their voicemail, a service for which mobile operators usually charge.
The film studio, owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, rejected the claims, pointing out that the message was sent only to people who had disclosed their phone numbers to the company in previous promotions and agreed to receive further information about Fox productions.
Fox also claimed that the voiceover at the end of the message makes it clear that the message is an advertisement.
The ASA upheld the consumer complaints. Specifically, the watchdog found that, contrary to Fox's claims, consumers "would not necessarily immediately recognise the voice as being Tom Cruise's", and therefore the message "was likely to be seen as menacing and to cause serious and widespread offence and undue fear or distress," in breach of its Code of Practice.
The ASA also found that the fact that the message was an advert should have been made clearer.
Finally, and perhaps most significantly, the watchdog said that, although the complainants had given their contact details to the advertisers, not all of them realised that receiving promotional information could incur a cost.
Fox said it had sent the message at 11am on a Monday to minimise the risk of people having to retrieve the message because – Fox argued – most people would have their mobile phones on at that time. This did not satisfy the ASA.
In a statement which is of significance to any business considering direct marketing by automated calls to mobile phones, the ASA wrote:
"The Authority considered that not all consumers would realise that one of the implications of giving their contact details to the advertisers was that receiving information from the advertisers could incur a cost. The Authority advised the advertisers to make clear when consumers were asked to give their contact details that a cost could be incurred to receive the requested information."
The advertising watchdog told Fox not to use a similar approach again, and advised the company to consult the Committee of Advertising Practice Copy Advice before sending more adverts to mobile phones.
The ASA adjudication and links to relevant sections of its Code of Practice are available here