Misleading Dell TV advert banned

[oddcrap]

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.

Source:

vnunet.com

[Quillz]

The 1100 is a very low-end system. The notation alone should imply that it's not going to be a powerhouse and have those specs. But, I can see where the complainee is coming from.

[Bhav]

In the UK, Dell also had to change the wording in it's adverts, because they used to say their PCs have Intel P4s but then show the price of a Celeron :p

[Menge]

yeh... their ads are SO misleading it hurts :s

[Shof]

anyone got a video of this?

[tekno]

I remember this commercial. It has been around ( at least in the US ) for quite some time now.

[FreqFace]

I remember that advert, and I thought it could be misleading (not to me, but less computer savvy people). A bit late though, the last time I saw the advert was like 6 months ago.

[Guol]

Yeh, in this day and age people need to really be careful when it comes to dealing with PC's :no:

[PL_ Veteran]

I don't get the bit about the kid...

[lnmnky]

They do it all the time with car adverts.

they have "Price listed is not for model shown."

[bush]

yeah, a video would be very nice.