Lately, the public appear to have been bombarded with a series of Virgin Media advertisements. In fact, even as a student it seems difficult to escape Richard Branson. The Virgin Media stall in Falmer House foyer persuades students to sign up for the latest Virgin Media exploits such as internet services. The most recent of Virgin’s press campaigns is “Hate to Wait” which promises customers faster broadband speeds than its competitors.
The adverts show a table of download speeds available for each of Virgin’s broadband packages. However, rival internet provider BT complained to the advertising regulator (ASA) that the speeds shown in Virgin’s adverts were wrong due to Virgin Media’s traffic managing policies. BT claimed that during peak hours, Virgin capped download speeds which meant that the promises made in the adverts were false as speeds would vary. The ASA has agreed and ordered Virgin to make it clear that download speeds will be restricted during peak hours or pull the advert entirely. More recently however, Virgin appears to have got it’s own back by complaining to the ASA in relation to a BT broadband advert which it claims also misleads the public over broadband speeds.