Sony Ericsson is having its wrists slapped by the Advertising Standards Authority for a television advert in which some bright young Satio owners start some kind of space-hopper flash mob. It’s not being done for being ridiculously unrealistic, but for wrongly leading viewers to believe that the handset comes with a dedicated Facebook app in one of the final product shots.
A viewer complained to the ASA that there was no Facebook app on his Satio despite a Facebook app being clearly shown in the advert. During the investigation, Sony Ericsson said that an initial software issue had prevented the application from being available pre-loaded on the phone, but users could now download and install the app manually. However, it turns out that the advert would not have been signed off by Clearcast, the industry body that clears advertising scripts, had they not “received assurance from Sony Ericsson that the Facebook application was pre-loaded on to the handset.”
The advert has been ruled misleading, and although no major punishment was dished out this time, we’re sure Clearcast and the ASA will have an eagle eye on Sony Ericsson adverts in the future. In the meantime, we can’t help but wonder what the ASA would make of the insane Japanese phone advert we came across yesterday.
[via moconews]
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