The Advertising Standards Authority has upheld a number of complaints against an online advertisement for UK virtual network Bemilo by The Carphone Warehouse.
Several statistical claims were made in the advertisement, which described Bemilo as “the UK’s safest mobile network designed to be used by children and managed by parents”. These included:
- 25% of children call or text in a class during school
- 33% spend up to 5 hours a day browsing the web on their phone
- 1 in 10 receive bullying texts or calls.
- 33% of UK children are sleep deprived as a result of late night texting
However, after a member of the public complained about the ad, an ASA investigation revealed that these claims were not as clear-cut as they first appeared. In fact, less than 15% of parents actually said their child had been tired due to late-night mobile phone use. The other figures also breached the ASA’s rules on misleading advertising.
The claim that Bemilo was the “safest mobile network” was not misleading, according to the ASA. In a statement it said “We considered the ad made clear that the basis for the claim was the unique features offered by the Bemilo network, and the fact it was designed for this purpose. We concluded the claim was not misleading and had been substantiated.”
Bemilo launched in May this year.
[ASA adjudication]