Apple has had one of its 3G iPhone adverts banned for misleading consumers. The offending ad showed the newer 3G iPhone next to the older iPhone handset, which uses a 2G EDGE connection. The advert showed the 3G iPhone browsing the web, downloading files, and viewing Google Maps – each downloading in under a second.
The Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) in the UK received 17 complaints from consumers who reported that the advert was misleading as to the actual speed of the iPhone 3G. Apple responded, claiming that the advertisement was supposed to be relative, rather than absolute, and that a normal consumer would understand that the loading speeds were simplified as an example.
The ASA disagreed, and has disallowed the advert. Apple has faced more than one lawsuit regarding the advertised speeds of its new 3G iPhone, both in the UK and overseas not to mention problems over battery life.
Not long ago, Nassau County resident Avi Koschitzki filed a lawsuit against the iPhone maker and its exclusive US wireless carrier AT&T with misrepresenting the performance of the new touchscreen handset by advertising it as “twice as fast” as its predecessor.
Out now | £varies | Apple (via Mobileburn)
