iPhone commercial banned in the UK over misleading claims

It seems that the irate customer from Alabama who filed a suit against Apple for overstating the internet capabilities of its iPhone 3G has company, and that too from across the Atlantic.

An advertisement for Apple's iconic product has been banned by the UK's advertising watchdog for misleading consumers by supposedly over-hyping its Web surfing capabilities. (See: Lawsuit filed against Apple by dissatisfied iPhone 3G customer)

In a ruling in London yesterday, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) asked Apple not to broadcast its commercial that claimed that people can access all parts of internet from the smart phone. 
   
The ruling follows two complaints received by ASA against the TV ad that showed the phone in someone's hand and a finger switching it on to reveal the menu page. The ad further shows the finger touch the weather icon to show the forecast for Cape Town and then navigate through a Heathrow Airport area map, a Safari icon, hotels and stock market webpage.    

At the same time, the phone is shown ringing and then being answered, with a voice-over saying "You never know which part of the internet you'll need... Which is why all the parts of the internet are on the iPhone". The ad ended with on-screen text that stated "iPhone. Only on O2."

However, the complainants said the claim about all parts of internet being accessible was misleading because "iPhone did not support Flash or Java, both integral to many web pages."    

In its response, Apple said that the ad was aimed at highlighting the "benefit of the iPhone in being able to offer availability to all internet websites, in contrast to other handsets which offered access to WAP versions or sites selected by service providers."

The US technology giant said that Safari, the web browser the iPhone uses, was built to open internet standards. Flash and Java technology were not open source, said Apple, adding that it could not ensure compatibility with "every third-party technology in the marketplace".

The company said none of the content in the ad was Java or Flash-based and that the line "all parts of the internet" meant website availability, "not every aspect of functionality" Despite Apple's objections the ASA ruled the ad "gave a misleading impression of the internet capabilities of the iPhone." Apple is not allowed to broadcast the ad again in its current form.