TV Story

07 January 2009 17:20 BST

Watchdog, BT not laughing at Sky's 'funny business'

Sky has been warned over its advertising conduct after being found to have belittled BT.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) backed the telecoms giant's claim that a national press advert from Sky made "misleading and denigratory" claims about its business practices.

BT successfully claimed the advert, which ran last summer, implied BT had "intentionally misled customers by surreptitiously" increasing prices.

Text in the offending advert said: "Despite advertising price cuts, BT are giving 11 million customers a price rise today. Are you one of them?

"At Sky, we believe in real value and fair and honest pricing - that's why Sky customers can get call packages with Sky Talk that are a lot cheaper than either BT or Virgin Media, with no funny business."

In response Sky stuck by its claim BT had potentially misled customers by promoting price cuts while covering up simultaneous rises.

The group said it "strongly believed" BT's strategy had the potential to mislead, leading to the parody of the BT advert which asked: "From August 1st BT customers will enjoy a price cut on their UK evening and weekend calls. Are you one of them?"

While the ASA accepted Sky's claims over BT's parallel price rises/cuts, it said the statement "no funny business" went beyond a robust and objective price comparison and implicitly attacked BT's business practices.

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