{"id":32816,"date":"2011-08-30T12:00:35","date_gmt":"2011-08-30T10:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/?p=32816"},"modified":"2011-08-30T12:18:14","modified_gmt":"2011-08-30T10:18:14","slug":"mtn-internet-still-world-class-asa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/cellular\/32816-mtn-internet-still-world-class-asa.html","title":{"rendered":"MTN Internet still World Class: ASA"},"content":{"rendered":"

Earlier in 2011 Cell C<\/a> lodged a competitor complaint against MTN<\/a> for the use of the words \u201cWorld-class Network\u201d and \u201cWorld-class Internet\u201d in its advertising.<\/p>\n

The Advertising Standards Authority of South Africa (ASA)<\/a> upheld the complaint in contexts where MTN<\/a> made specific claims about speed, but dismissed it when used as general \u201cpuffery.\u201d<\/p>\n

For example, MTN is not allowed to make the claim \u201cthis [network] upgrade would give you faster e-mail, quicker online banking, Facebook<\/a> and much more\u201d without providing substantiation.<\/p>\n

However, MTN was allowed to continue with advertising such as, \u201cGet World-class Internet on your smartphone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cell C appeals<\/h3>\n

Cell C appealed the ASA\u2019s ruling, saying that the body made a mistake when it found that the phrase \u201cworld-class Internet\u201d is subjective in the absence of further context in the advertisement.<\/p>\n

\"Romans

Romans "Best pizza" campaign<\/p><\/div>\n

In the original ruling, the ASA cited a matter between Romans and Scooters Pizza where Romans referred to their pizza as \u201cthe best.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cell C argued that the ASA\u2019s basis for its original ruling did not apply in the MTN \u201cWorld Class\u201d case as the dictionary definition of \u201cworld class\u201d gives objective meaning to the thing it\u2019s describing, that is, of a quality or standard regarded as high throughout the world.<\/p>\n

The use of the phrase \u201cbest pizza,\u201d Cell C said, was regarded as subjective because \u201cwhat is my best pizza may not be your best pizza.\u201d<\/p>\n

MTN responds to the appeal<\/h3>\n

In response, MTN continued to argue that use of the word \u201cworld-class\u201d to describe its Internet offering of network will only require substantiation in circumstances where it is qualified by reference to speed.<\/p>\n

Without a reference to speed, MTN said that the expression is a puff and is a subjective expression of opinion.<\/p>\n

\"MTN

MTN World-class Internet advertising<\/p><\/div>\n

ASA ruling<\/h3>\n

The Advertising Industry Tribunal dismissed Cell C\u2019s appeal, saying that they agree with the ASA Directorate\u2019s original finding that MTN\u2019s claim is really an expression of opinion and will be interpreted as such by the hypothetical reasonable consumer.<\/p>\n

According to the ruling, the tribunal did not discount the possibility that the use of the descriptor \u201cworld-class\u201d for a product or service may constitute a factual claim requiring substantiation.<\/p>\n

However, in the case of the statement, \u201cGet World-class internet on your smartphone,\u201d the tribunal ruled that it does not constitute a factual claim and dismissed the appeal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Advertising Standards Authority of South Africa dismissed an appeal against MTN\u2019s advertising with the words, \u201cGet world-class Internet on your smartphone\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":27253,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"idle","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"","_sma_facebook_post_id":"","_sma_instagram_post_id":"","_sma_threads_post_id":"","_sma_x_attempts":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[823,353,355,35,42,4262],"class_list":["post-32816","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cellular","tag-advertising-industry-tribunal","tag-advertising-standards-authority-of-south-africa","tag-cell-c","tag-headline","tag-mtn","tag-world-class-internet"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32816"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32816"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32816\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32818,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32816\/revisions\/32818"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27253"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32816"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32816"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32816"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}