ASA rules against Sentech’s MyWireless Flexi Ad

The Advertising Standards Authority of South Africa (ASA) has ruled that Sentech’s MyWireless Flex advert promoting “Megabytes without Megabucks” is misleading and must be pulled from the media.
The complainant, Nico Muller a freelance journalist and digital media student, lodged a complaint with the Directorate on the 7th of September this year.
Muller’s complaint stated that viewers were given the impression that they could have unlimited Internet access for R199 (incl VAT) but in reality “this is a severely restrictive account that can very easily cost you R2999 a month if you use as many megabytes as you are normally granted in a 3G capped account.”
He added that, “In a country like South Africa which already has severe problems with unaffordable Internet pricing regimes because of the unfair and unsatisfactory Telkom monopoly, this sort of advertising and this sort of product is patently dishonest.”
The ASA ruled in favour of Muller and stating that Sentech must withdraw the advert ‘Use as many Megs as you like’ immediately.
They base their ruling on the fact that the advert misleads viewers into believing they have unlimited Megs available to them.
The true pricing structure is only revealed later “which therefore only serves to correct a misleading impression already created” stated the Directorate.

MyADSL story: ASA rules against Sentech’s MyWireless Flexi Ad by Cara Christian, MyADSL, 6 December 2005