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31 May 2006
Dell Computers has been banned from showing a television advert that misleads customers over the price of one of its PC systems.
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) found that the ad breached Committee of Advertising Practice broadcast rule 5.1 on misleading advertising and upheld the complaint against Dell by a member of the public.
The decision was taken despite the Broadcast Advertising Clearance Centre (BACC) testifying on Dell's behalf that in its opinion the ad was not misleading.
The advert featured a son listing the features of a Dell PC to his father, including the phrase: "Well, it's got a P4 3.46GHz processor, 256MB PCI Express Graphics, 5.1 surround sound speakers."
The scene then changed to show the father sitting at his computer followed by a shot of a Dell sales assistant and an advert for the Dell Dimension 1100 which was £489 but now costs £399.
The customer complained that the advert implied that the Dell Dimension 1100 PC had the specifications listed by the son, when in fact it did not.
The BACC said that the father and son sequence was separate to the second part of the ad and that the PC offer at the end clearly listed what was included in the package.
However, the ASA was not convinced and told Dell not to show the advert again in its current form.
"We considered that the screen shots of the father and a Dell sales assistant were likely to be understood as a continuation of the father and son sequence and implied that the PC advertised for £399 included the specifications listed at the beginning of the ad," the ASA ruling said.
"We considered the ad was ambiguous because it did not make clear that the PC advertised for £399 at the end of the ad was different to the PC described at the beginning of the ad."
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Do you agree?
Don't be ridiculous,what panel are they on!
The advert was obviously intended to humorously demonstrate how clueless some fathers are compared to their sons when it comes to computer technology. Surely anyone can recognise that when the son rabbits on about processors and graphics cards then the father exclaims 'speakers' as if they had just been invented for pc's! Most adverts stretch the truth and this was just a humorous prelude to the boring bits using a bit of artistic licence. Perhaps they should stick to advertising in magazines,where the facts and figures are all there for the readers who may not bother to actually confirm what they are getting when they place an order based on a tv ad. Since when did any car manufacturers include the beautiful bird who is clearly visible in most forms of advertising these days.Any way, You can't get 'em in the shops,so you better go online!
Posted by: Peter Callender 02 Jun 2006
Dell advertising
What has Dell done that every other retailer has not done at some time in their advertising. Wouldn't you just lover to by that car or holiday for the price advertised without having to check that the advertised product was not exactly the one as displayed. I think it's time for truth in all advertising and equal rules for all industries. Caveat Emptor rules
Posted by: Older 02 Jun 2006
Misleading
About time. I have long considered Dell's tactics 'misleading', not only on television but also in the press on particularly on the internet.
Posted by: john 01 Jun 2006
typical
Typical practice among all PC makers -- mislead the public, sell stripped equipment and nickle and dime for all the "upgrades". Tired of all the BS, then get a Mac. Apple's most basic computer is fully-equipped, burns DVDs, has FireWire and a full-featured OS that is the same as what everyone gets (not 6 different versions like Vista will have).
Posted by: GerberG8TR 01 Jun 2006
Dell allwways did do this
If you were to take the time and look at most of the Dell adverts in all the media that they use, then you will see that they have always used this type of advertising. In fact, when you look at there web sales site, then they initial price that you start will always jumps at the first page up by up so £100. This on closer inspection is due to there sales tactics of adding the ?highest? support/return time option. It can thankfully be reduced, but the point is, is that they have always done this. Well hopefully here in the UK thing will change now. Maybe we will see the full payment ?before? delivery being changed similar to a ruling that was made in I believe Canada last year. This one was the fact that they take the full payment before you even see the machine. Thought that there were laws in this country already in place, how is it that Dell manage to circumvent them? Maybe now Dell will be made to fall in line with the rules; and both their advertising policy and the way that they are paid will change giving more protection to the customers.
Posted by: Colin Boys 31 May 2006