Three is possibly not ‘Better for Smartphones’

MOBILE NETWORK Three has incurred the wrath of the the Advertising Standards Agency after making claims in its ads about things that can't be substantiated and reports that can't be viewed.

At issue is a regional press advert that had the headline "Better for Smartphones' and hovering words including "value", "speed" and "satisfaction".

This would be beguiling enough for most users, but Three added the statement, "Don't just take our word for it. We're rated [the] No.1 network for mobile internet speed and value by smartphone users", as well as some small print that added, "All figures are from the independent YouGov Smartphone, mobile internet, experience report wave 4 (Sept 10)".

The ASA considered a few points and found that in some cases the claims were pretty fair. However, it was less happy with some others.

"We considered the claims in the ad, 'Better for smartphones' and '... No.1 network for mobile internet speed and value ...', were likely to be understood by consumers to compare Three's products and services with those of their competitors", it said.

"We noted the ad included Three's web address and reference to the YouGov report. We also noted, however, the report was not publicly available and details of the comparison were not available on the Three website."

The advertisement will never again darken a local newspaper, at least in its current form, the ASA added. µ