Jessica Smith, the woman who filed a class action lawsuit against apple over the iPhone 3G, ought to enjoy this. Apple’s iPhone ad claiming to include “all parts of the Internet” has been banned in the UK for false advertising.
With all due respect, it really is kind of a false statement. The reason the Advertising Standards Authority in the UK thinks so is because the mobile Safari browser featured on the iPhone does not support Flash or Java, which are pretty prominent across the Internet.
According to Guardian, “The company said none of the content in the ad was Java or Flash-based and that the line ‘all parts of the internet’ meant website availability, ‘not every aspect of functionality.” Either way, it sounds like they’re going to have to do some rewording, if they want this ad to fly in the UK.
The claim that the ad is misleading is not an unjustifiable one. The average user would probably buy the phone and expect to browse the web hassle free. Let’s not forget that there are many people that do not know anything about Flash and/or especially Java. All they will see is a web page that isn’t working right.
One could argue that the technological ignorance of users is not Apple’s fault, and they would be right too, but the fact remains – they said “all parts of the Internet.” They didn’t say, “…with the exception of some functionalities.”
Saying “all” is not like claiming to be the “best”, which would be matter of opinion. The word is pretty well defined – entirety. It’s too bad that the statement in question is the whole point of the ad. Do you think Apple should have to change the ad?
