Cell C has to remove “4Gs” from its new advertising campaign, after the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) ruled that the term is misleading and dishonest.
MTN, Vodacom and several consumers laid complaints against Cell C's advertising campaign, which includes a logo reflecting “4Gs” and the claim it is building the first 4Gs network in the Southern Hemisphere. The complaints stated that the claims are misleading, since consumers will mistake it to be a reference to the “4G” standard of network.
”This is especially so as the 's' in '4Gs' is extremely small,” says the ASA.
It adds that consumers have become accustomed to seeing the term “3G” in connection with broadband-capable devices in SA, which always denotes speed and connectivity capability.
“While 4G devices are not impossible, they are yet to be perfected and rolled out into the market, both internationally and locally.
As such, the respondent is misusing the technical understanding of the term '4G' and its new '4Gs' logo to create the appearance that it offers a competitive advantage that it does not possess.”
WWW Strategy MD Steven Ambrose says Cell C was far behind MTN and Vodacom, and needed something bold to differentiate its offering from the competition.
“In light of all the issues around the use of the term broadband and previous rulings from the ASA, Cell C decided to still proceed with the 4G branding, and simply added the 's' to the 4G brand. This was still rather opportunistic. I am certain they expected some backlash.”
Cell C intends to appeal the ASA's ruling, saying it is disappointed the authority did not appear to take into account its full and extensive responses to the Vodacom and MTN complaints.
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