Advertisment
Advertising for Sky Fibre included two television advertisements linked to the movie ‘Despicable Me 3’. Both advertisements featured characters from the movie.
Advert 1:
FVO: “Turn on Sky Fibre at our lowest price ever. It’s superfast and it’s totally unlimited. Perfect for busy homes to be online at the same time. So get Sky Fibre at our lowest price ever. It’s superfast and totally unlimited. All for just €30 a month for just 12 months. Plus, it’s available for existing and new customers. Search Sky Fibre”
On Screen Text: Sky Fibre. Our Lowest Price Ever!
Gru from Despicable Me 3 is shown pushing a button on a large machine. The other side of the machine shows a production line with the machine pulling out letters to make up the word “Superfast” and “Totally Unlimited”.
On Screen Text: Lowest Price Ever. Superfast. Totally Unlimited. €30 a month for 12 months.
Set up fee varies. Available to existing and new customers.
Footnote: €55 per month after 12 months. New broadband customers in selected fibre areas only. Up to 100mb download speeds. No traffic management/usage caps. Min contract & further terms apply.”
Advert 2:
The 3 children from Despicable Me 3 are all shown using the internet on different devices.
SFX: Alert noise
Edith: Oh no, Peak Time!
A sign with a warning of ‘Peak Time’ is shown. A dial showing their internet speed moves from ‘Fast’ all the way back to ‘Slow”.
Gru: If only someone would invent the internet accelerator. Oh that’s right, I did.
He points to the dial and the wall separates to reveal a machine attached to the dial with the Minions on top of the machine on a treadmill. One of the Minions is trying to get the other Minions to walk on the treadmill. He hangs a banana over their heads and they start running to catch it. This increases the speed on the dial and it moves from ‘Slow’ back up to ‘Fast’.
Gru: Bye Bye slow internet.
One of the Minions on the treadmill walks over the heads of the others and grabs the banana.
Minion: Bananaaaa
They all momentarily stop and fly off the treadmill and the dial moves again from ‘Fast’ to ‘Slow’.
Gru: Aah
Edith: Why don’t we just switch to Sky Fibre? It’s Suuper (sic) Fast, even at homework time.
Gru: You’re a genius, like me.
On screen text: Available in selected fibre areas only. Download speed of up to 100Mb. No traffic management. External factors may affect speed. New 12 month contract. Further terms apply.
FVO: Switch to Superfast Sky Fibre Unlimited. It’s perfect for busy homes to be online at the same time. Sky Believe in Better.
On Screen: Switch to Superfast Sky Fibre Unlimited
Three Minions holding up a sign each of: “No To Slow” and a Minion holding his banana up!
Complaint
Virgin Media objected to the advertising on the following grounds:
1. The use of ‘Superfast’
Virgin Media said that the maximum speed offered by Sky was 100Mb, however, it had been publicly documented by third parties, including Open eir, that the majority of Sky customers were receiving significantly less than this speed. They said that this was in contrast to the speeds of up to 360Mb which Virgin Media customers availed of. They said that data from Ookla had demonstrated the significant advantage of Virgin Media’s broadband versus Sky broadband. In the circumstances they considered it was untenable and incorrect for Sky to hold itself as the provider of ‘Superfast’ broadband.
2. The use of ‘fibre’
Virgin Media referred to the ComReg Q1 Quarterly Key Data Report of 2017 in which they stated that only 0.9% of total fixed broadband was provided by way of fibre to the home (FTTH) across Ireland. They noted that the delivery of Sky broadband was by way of a mix of DSL, VDSL/fibre to the cabinet and a very small portion of FTTH. They said that taking this into account, it was clear that only a negligible section of the population could avail of, or even receive, this service.
3. The reference to ‘Broadband Accelerator’
Virgin Media considered that the inclusion of a ‘broadband accelerator’ in their advertisement was misleading as it suggested that Sky had some way of improving broadband performance which was not the case. They again referred to the measurements from Ookla which they said reflected the reality of the situation.
They said that Sky continued to make absolute claims on various media that they offered ‘Superfast fibre broadband’ and that they had a ‘Broadband Accelerator”, claims which Virgin Media considered were false, deceptive, misleading and amounted to a misleading commercial practice.
Response
Sky Ireland responded to the complaints as follows:
1. The use of ‘Superfast’
Sky Ireland stated that their Sky fibre fell into the ‘superfast’ category of broadband with maximum download speeds of up to 100Mb. They said that ‘Super-fast’ broadband was recognised within the market and by ComReg and the European Digital Agenda as referring to broadband services with a maximum advertised speed of up to 30Mbit/s. They referred to ComReg’s NGA report and the Digital Agenda scorecard referred to within the ComReg report (1). They said that on the basis of this they were confident that they could stand over the claim that their fibre broadband was ‘Superfast’.
2. The use of ‘fibre’
Sky Ireland said that it appeared that Virgin Media were suggesting that the use of the term ‘fibre broadband’ should be limited to fibre to the home networks only. They said that it was their experience that fibre broadband was the term used to describe any network in which part of the access network comprised fibre. They said that fibre broadband was the term used to describe any service where one element of the access network was entirely fibre.
They said that it would make no sense to try and amend the existing terminology as new technology developed and that the term ‘fibre broadband’ had been in common parlance since the introduction of ‘fibre to the cabinet’ to the Irish market and to seek to change it now would cause a world of confusion. They said that it was apparent that operators had started to distinguish fibre to the home services from traditional fibre broadband by simply referring to the services as fibre to the home. They referred to an adjudication from 2014 by the Advertising Standards Authority in the UK (ASA), in which the ASA considered that consumers who might be interested in ‘fibre optics’ broadband of one sort or another would primarily be concerned with the improved speed and performance which could be delivered in comparison to an ADSL connection and the cost at which that service could be obtained, rather than being concerned with obtaining the most technologically advanced fibre optic product available at any cost. The ASA therefore considered that the term ‘fibre optic’ denoted a broadband connection which primarily comprised fibre optic cable whilst including non-fibre optic cable as a small proportion of the overall connection was unlikely to mislead the average consumer.
3. The reference to ‘Broadband Accelerator’
Sky Ireland said that the reference to a broadband accelerator was directed at ADSL customers and customers that were experiencing slow broadband speeds as was made clear in the copy and the advert. They said that the advertisement had depicted characters from a children’s animated movie and it was not intended to be taken literally.
Footnotes:
(1) Digital Agenda key indicators: Broadband take-up and coverage – NGA broadband coverage/availability (as a % of households)
Definition: Coverage is a supply indicator defined as the percentage of Households living in areas served by NGA. Next Generation Access includes the following technologies: FTTH, FTTB, Cable Docsis 3.0, VDSL and other superfast broadband (at least 30 Mbps download)
Conclusion
Complaint Not Upheld
The Complaints Committee considered the detail of the complaints and the advertisers’ response in regards to the three issues raised by Virgin Media.
1. The use of ‘Superfast’
The Committee noted that Virgin Media were objecting to the reference to ‘Superfast’ on the basis that the majority of Sky fibre customers were receiving significantly less than the advertised speed of up to 100Mb. The Committee noted the report from ComReg and the Digital Agenda scorecard that was indicated within the report and they noted that ‘Superfast’ broadband was described as being “at least 30 Mbps download”. In the circumstances the Committee did not consider that the reference by Sky to their fibre product as ‘Superfast’ was misleading or in breach of the Code.
2. The use of ‘fibre’
The Committee noted the complaint from Virgin Media in regards to the use of the term ‘fibre’ and how they considered that the reference to fibre by Sky was misleading as the majority of their broadband was provided by way of DSL and VDSL/fibre to the cabinet with only a small portion delivered by way of FTTH. While the Committee did not agree with the advertisers that it made no sense to amend existing terminology as new technologies developed, they did agree that the term ‘fibre’ had been used for many years to describe broadband where an element of the access network was entirely fibre, such as fibre cabling to the cabinet. The Committee did not consider that consumers would expect that any reference to fibre broadband would only relate to fibre to the home cabling and in the circumstances they did not consider that the reference by Sky to their broadband as fibre was misleading or in breach of the Code.
3. Reference to ‘Broadband Accelerator’
The Committee noted that the advertisement had featured characters from the Despicable Me movies and that the advertisement was in keeping with the style of the movies by using humour in its depiction and keeping the traits of the characters. In regards to the reference to a ‘Broadband Accelerator’, the Committee noted that it was featured as being invented by the character ‘Gru’ and was shown as ultimately not working as it relied on the Minions. While Sky’s fibre broadband was suggested by one of the child characters as an alternative and described as ‘superfast’, the Committee noted that the footnote had clarified that the speeds available were ‘up to 100Mb’ and that speeds of up to 30Mb were allowed to be called ‘Superfast’. The Committee noted that Sky intended the reference to the ‘Accelerator’ to be directed at customers of ADSL broadband and those who were experiencing slow broadband speeds, but that they did not intend for the advertisement to be taken literally. The Committee did not consider that the reference to the accelerator implied that Sky’s fibre broadband was an ‘accelerator’ for all customers’ broadband and in the circumstances they did not consider that the reference to a ‘Broadband Accelerator’ was in breach of the Code.
ACTION REQUIRED: No further action required.
