The BBC reported today that the UK’s Advertising Standards Agency (they have one of those?) has blocked an iPhone commercial from appearing on the air to keep it from misleading consumers about the capabilities of the device.
The ad claimed that “all the parts of the internet are on the iPhone," but the ASA argued that without Flash and Java, the iPhone is futile—or, at least incapable of accessing the internet “in its full glory,” according to spokesperson Olivia Campbell. The ASA also ruled that the commercial “gave a misleading impression of the internet capabilities of the iPhone”, but Apple contested, saying that it never guaranteed that plug-ins would be available.
The commercial will remain banned, as Apple has no plans to modify the ad for the U.K.
boddah
August 31, 2008 at 9:21pm
the commercial says "You never know which part of the internet you'll need, so we've included all of it." without flash and java, there's plenty of internet you're missing
kevkevallen
August 27, 2008 at 6:49pm
First of all, wow, I didn't realize that a country that gave booze to people the age of 5 would care about what is on a TV commercial. But besides that, I just re-watched the all the ads on the Apple Website and none of them say or imply that the iPhone has the capability to use "all the parts of the internet"
Even though the British do have a good point that the iPhone doesn't have Java or Flash, but none of the commercials lead you to believe so.
Yank the commercial from the Brits, they will still buy iPhones.
