UK Advertising Authority: iPhone ad ‘must not appear again’: Euro dust-up over ‘really fast’ claims

The Advertising Standards Authority in the United Kingdom has ruled that a particular Apple commercial touting the iPhone 3G as “really fast” to be misleading and has pulled the plug on the advertisement.
The authority rendered its decision after receiving 17 complaints of the commercial that claims that the 3G can download “pretty much anything, really fast.”
Apple (UK) Ltd. said the commercial was accurate because it was comparing its new 3G iPhone with its 2G predecessor. The company said that its 3G technology operates at substantially faster speeds.
The “implication that the 3G iPhone allowed downloads and Internet access that was ‘really fast’ by comparison to the previous generation was not misleading,” according Apple’s response that is included in the ruling.
Apple also said it included on-screen text of “network performance will vary by location” to underline performance variations, according to the ruling.
The authority did not buy the argument. Although consumers may be familiar with mobile phones, they may not be fully aware of the technical differences between the different technologies, according to the ruling.
The authority also said the voice-over claim “really fast” was used with each of the functions shown in the commercial and likely lead viewers to believe that the device actually operates at or near the speeds shown in the advertisement.
According to the ruling, “the ad must not appear again in its current form.”
The authority is an independent body set up by the advertising industry to enforce the rules of the advertising code, which is intended to protect consumers and create a fair playing field for advertisers.