An advertisement for Virgin Media has been prohibited for giving customers the false impression that it provides quicker wireless internet than its competitors.
The advertisement proclaimed that it offered the "quickest wi-fi guarantee of any major supplier".
Virgin commented that it found the ruling "somewhat perplexing", and asserted that it offered a more swift minimum speed than its rivals.
The watchdog concluded that most customers would believe its wi-fi was faster than that of others, however this was not the case.
The ASA investigated the assertion after getting a protest from Vodafone, who is a rival of Virgin.
Virgin informed the ASA the advertisement was created to communicate that they guarantee customers a 30Mbps download speed on wi-fi, faster than what other providers provide, and customers are allowed to receive money back towards their bill if the minimal speed is not attained.
By contrast, Vodafone guarantees a minimum wi-fi speed of 10Mbps.
Virgin's stance was not accepted by the ASA, and the complaint was validated.
The distinction between guaranteeing the highest speed and providing an assurance that the advertiser would take action if a minimum speed was not attained was a slight one, the ruling stated.
We concluded that the headline claim was not substantiated and that it was misleading."
We deemed that the headline statement was not understood as Virgin Media wanted it to be by consumers, and instead, a large portion believed it meant that Virgin Media guaranteed to provide the fastest wi-fi service of any major broadband provider. As a result, we found that the headline claim was not supported and was, in fact, misleading.
Consequently, since the assertion had not been corroborated as it should have been to be clear to customers, we decided that the advertisement was deceptive.
Consequently, Virgin Media will not be able to air the ad again, and the regulatory agency instructed them "to verify that they were not representing that their internet connection was the fastest among all leading internet providers if that was not really true".
On 3 July 2023, Virgin Media showcased an advertisement on their website's homepage which was headlined "our wi-fi guarantee".
It was made clear by the company that the warranty relates only to customers situated in regions with access to fibre optics broadband, especially the M50 service for which the average download speed is 54Mbps.
Customers were promised a £100 one-time account credit if they were unable to get at least 30Mbps download speeds in every room of their home. Initially, the company provided up to three wi-fi signal boosters in attempts to obtain these speeds.
In response to the ASA, Virgin stated that "numerous significant broadband suppliers had advertised wi-fi warranties to customers".
The company stated it was confident its customers would not have been misled, seeing as how they would have comprehended the intended meaning of the advertisement, which was explained and emphasized by the usage of the word “guarantee”.
Virgin expressed dismay in the judgement, saying "We are taken aback and disheartened. Considering that no customers lodged a complaint about the advertisement and that polls showed most people identified the message correctly, the ASA's decision is hard to comprehend." A representative added.
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