Apple iPhone advertisement banned in the UK over ridiculous complaint

One of Apple’s iPhone advertisements has been banned in the UK following complaints that it misleads customers. The contention is on the statement that says “all the parts of the internet are on the iPhone”.

The Advertising Standards Authority received complaints from two local reviewers who contended Apple’s claim in the commercial that the iPhone had all the parts of the internet in it. The complaint said that since the iPhone does not support Flash or Java it cannot claim to be offering a complete internet functionality.

Apple responded saying it was not claiming complete internet functionality but rather internet site availability. ASA however decided to ban the ad since it was misleading and did not explain the limitations.

What were they thinking? Scrutinizing each and every word in an advertisement and holding the advertiser responsible looks like an attempt at squelching the creative freedom of advertisements. Ads are marketing tools. They are supposed to generate interest. If someone wants to buy an item after seeing an ad its really up to that person to verify that the item fulfills all her/his needs. How can someone believe each and every word in an advertisement? This brings to mind a commercial for a motorcycle that had the punch line “Feel like God”. So do we ban that advertisement since nobody can determine how God feels? Ridiculous.