back to article Carphone Warehouse whipped for cheap Jesus mobe ads

Carphone Warehouse has been smacked down by the Advertising Standards Authority for claiming that it had the lowest price in the country on the iPhone 4. One complaint was made about the ads, which were headlined: "iPhone 4. UK's lowest price". The complainant said the headline was misleading because she'd found lower prices …

COMMENTS

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  1. BorkedAgain

    Lowest Price

    Well, I slightly disagree; if an ad claimed "lowest price" I'd assume it was lower *or* the same as other tariffs, because if it's the same as others then they're all offering the same, lowest price. But then, I'm not a member of the general public, I guess.

    On the other hand, when I read any advert from any mobile phone supplier, ISP, politician etc I do always have a little voice at the back of my head endlessly repeating the phrase "You're being lied to; they're trying to mislead you in some way..."

    Sad, but true. For a given value of true.

  2. Elmer Phud
    Trollface

    'Jesus mobe'

    Thank you - I can hear the 'Harrumphs' already.

    1. 1Rafayal
      Paris Hilton

      I agree.

      I can already hear the cups of coffee being slammed down in rage as well as the rustle of corduroy trousers rushing to the nearest wifi hotspot as members of the Jobsian Cult vent their rage against what can only be described as wanton sacrilege directed at one of the most important idols - The Jesus Mobe.

      Paris, as she once swore that the Jesus Mobe was able to solve a Rubiks Cube in one move. (that is probably a Chuck Norris Fact, but hey ho).

      I await the down-votes eagerly.

      1. Jolyon

        If they were reading this they probably wouldn't need to rush to a hotspot.

      2. Ascylto
        Big Brother

        23456

        Oh, do get with it.

        The iPhone has been called the 'Jesus Phone' for years now, just as the iPad is a 'Fondle Slab'. We cultists don't slam our coffee (or Kool Aid) down to vent our rage, we just look upon another saddo wanting to troll his/her way to acceptance of some crap or other.

  3. Whitter
    Stop

    Its not "warning" if nothing ever happens.

    Can they please stop with the "don't do it again".

    Or what? Nothing.

    Stop putting these useless statements out, or grow some.

    Preferably the latter.

    1. Mostly_Harmless Silver badge

      "Stop, or else we'll say "Stop" again"

    2. Simbu

      While i agree a slap on the wrist does little to disuade dodgy advertising... there is a cost associated with having ads pulled in the form of having to make and republish replacement ads. This is still a (albeit minor) ballache for CPW.

      The solution to my mind would be a fine proportionate with the cost of the investigation of the adverts. If they are found guilty.

      1. Greemble
        Paris Hilton

        Peer review

        Yes, this would be a pain for the company involved as they'd then have to design a whole new set of adverts with the printing & distribution costs. etc to add.

        Except for the fact that in the majority of (if not all) cases, the particular campaign has run it's course and been finished long before the ASA get around to delivering their final verdict.

  4. G C M Roberts

    What a waste of time the ASA are

    I wonder what they would have said if they said the phone was unlimitedly cheap and had an asterisk to a fair use price.

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I would...

    ...force them to run the ads again (at thier cost) with a big banner (no less than 20% of the screen/advert real estate) apologising for the incorrect/inconsistent facts and stating the truth.

    That would make them think twice in future.

    Who says all advertising is good?

  6. Ed Deckard

    The way to do it

    is to determine (at their expense) what the actual lowest prices for the products sold were during the period the adverts ran, and then make them refund the difference to every buyer who could have been misled by the adverts (say, everyone who bought an iPhone for the period the adverts ran plus one week).

    That should fix their little red wagon.

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    ASA...

    ... more useless and less effective than a chocolate fireguard

  8. PeterM42
    Facepalm

    ASA do have some teeth.....

    Through complaining to the ASA several times, I eventually stopped the Daily Mail using the word "WITH" to mean "you have got to cut out the coupon from the paper you conveniently had delivered so that you then have to go down to Tesco or W.H.Smiths to COLLECT the free CD or DVD we told you was going to be included WITH the paper".

  9. Sarah Davis
    Coat

    Politicians and Mobile Suppliers !!

    ... you'd have to be pretty dull to believe anything they say !

    Given that Carphone warehouse use India to make it's spamming phone sales so it can bypass telesales blocking by the telephone preference service and save money by not having to pay anything close to a respectable wage proves categorically that they have no integrity or scruples - that should be enough to ward off anyone with a brain.

    I got conned by them once, I agreed to what seemed like a good deal on an HTC,.. they sent me a crap deal and a Sony.

    Given that so many people have had so many problems with Craphone Worehouse does it matter what they advertise - just assume that anything they say/claim/advertise is a lie.

    Lets face it Mobile Suppliers are as trustworthy as Politicians

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