Telkom ad 'misleading'

Thu, 09 Oct 2008

Telkom has been rapped over the knuckles for what the Advertising Standards Authority says is a misleading ad for its broadband services.

The ad, in a leaflet mailed to customers along with monthly phone accounts, was titled: "do THE BROADEST BAND from R199 pm".

Though the ad offered up to 30 gigabytes local usage free, a small-print disclaimer said free local usage applied only "once the original internet account has reached its limit".

The ASA said advertisers could not rely on a disclaimer to clear a misleading impression created in the main body of an ad.

It also said the "broadest band" claim was misleading as the R199 "from" price related to a 384kpbs line, which was not the "broadest" band available.

The ASA ordered that the ad be withdrawn.