Watchdog finds MTN in breach of advertising code
MTN has been found guilty of ‘ambiguous and therefore misleading’ advertising and has been ordered to withdraw or amend the claims it makes in its one-day and seven-day data bundle deals.
MTN has been advertising special deals on its app without explaining that the data availability purchased is scrapped at midnight on the date of the deal expiry.
TimesLIVE says this means that the advertised ‘day’ is not a full 24-hour period in the case of a one-day deal, but rather the time from the moment of purchase until midnight.
The Advertising Regulatory Board has found that MTN customers could be duped into paying for a day-long deal that theoretically could only be valid for a few minutes.
It found MTN guilty of making misleading claims and instructed it to either remove the offer advertised on its app, or correct it to accurately reflect the terms.
The ARB found that the advertising did not carry any information alerting the consumer or clarifying their definition of ‘a day’, with no asterisk or disclaimer.
‘Advertisements should not contain any statement or visual presentation which, directly or by implication, omission, ambiguity, inaccuracy, exaggerated claim or otherwise, is likely to mislead the consumer.’
It found MTN to be in breach of the Code of Advertising Practice.
Article disclaimer: While we have made every effort to ensure the accuracy of this article, it is not intended to provide final legal advice as facts and situations will differ from case to case, and therefore specific legal advice should be sought with a lawyer.
