UK ISP TalkTalk Facebook Ad Banned for Misleading Half Price Promo

Budget ISP TalkTalk has had one of its “Hottest Half Price” Facebook promotions for their “TV, broadband, fibre and calls” bundle banned after it claimed that the triple-play package was priced from just £7.75 a month, although it failed to mention the line rental charge.

Last year the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) introduced a new ruling to stop ISPs from separating out the cost of compulsory phone line rental in their broadband bundles (here), which appears to be where TalkTalk’s promotion has fallen foul.

ASA Ruling (REF: A13-240963)

The ASA welcomed the fact that TalkTalk were willing to amend the ad. We noted, however, that when the ad initially appeared it did not include any reference to the line rental charge which applied.

We therefore considered that consumers reading the ad would believe that the complete cost of the package for the first six months would be £7.75 a month, and would then increase to £15.50 a month. Because that was not the case and an additional fee of £15.40 a month applied to the bundle, we concluded that the ad was misleading and in breach of the Code.

As usual the ASA banned the advert and told TalkTalk to ensure that the line rental cost was “presented clearly alongside the bundle price in future ads“.