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UK regulator rules 'free' Dungeon Keeper ad was misleading
The UK's Advertising Standards Agency upheld a complaint against EA today, ruling the publisher misled customers by promoting its mobile Dungeon Keeper game as "free." The British authority told EA to ensure future adverts are upfront about what limits there are to "free gameplay" and how in-app purchases affect it. The ad in question was sent via e-mail, and the ASA says it stated "GET DUNGEON KEEPER ON MOBILE FOR FREE!" In its response to the complaint, EA said Dungeon Keeper was free to download, in-app purchases were not required, and gameplay without in-app purchases wasn't severely compromised. The publisher noted Gems can be used to accelerate and boost progress, but added that while Gems can be purchased for money, the game awards them through regular interaction.
Sega Europe acknowledges Aliens: Colonial Marines trailers didn't reflect final content
Sega Europe will alter its deceptive trailers of Aliens: Colonial Marines in the UK to acknowledge the difference between promotion and final product. GI.biz reports a complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority in the UK by a Reddit user triggered Sega to make amends in order to avoid a formal investigation."Sega Europe acknowledged your objection that the trailers did not accurately reflect the final content of the game," Niall McVeigh, complaints executive at the Advertising Standards Authority wrote. "[Sega] agreed to add a disclaimer, both on their website and in all relevant YouTube videos, which explains that the trailers depict footage of the demo versions of the game. The disclaimer will be visible when each online trailer is played."According to the ASA website, the organization received four complaints. It's widely known now that Sega and developer Gearbox Software misled the press and public with inaccurate demonstrations of Aliens: Colonial Marines for years. The game currently stands as one of the worst reviewed titles of 2013.
UK Advertising Standards Authority clears Mass Effect 3
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) of the UK will not act on claims that Electronic Arts misled consumers about Mass Effect 3 when it advertised "decisions you make completely shape your experience and outcome.""The ASA acknowledged the belief that players' choices in the game did not influence the outcome to the extent claimed by EA," the group wrote in a statement obtained by CVG. "However, we considered that the three choices at the end of the game were thematically quite different, and that the availability and effectiveness of those choices would be directly determined by a player's score, which was calculated with reference to previous performance in the game(s)."Whilst we acknowledged that the advertiser had placed particular emphasis on the role that player choices would play in determining the outcome of the game, we considered that most consumers would realize there would be a finite number of possible outcomes within the game and, because we considered that the advertiser had shown that players' previous choices and performance would impact on the ending of the game, we concluded that the ad was not misleading."The charges against EA were brought by consumers unhappy with Mass Effect 3's conclusion. Developer BioWare is currently in the process of creating an "extended cut" ending that will hopefully be more satisfactory.
Turbine fields 33 Lord of the Rings Online questions
If you could ask a dev team anything about your favorite MMO, what would it be? Well, Turbine invited its Lord of the Rings Online players to do just that, and today the studio posted 33 answers to the sometimes-serious, sometimes-silly queries that players posed. Through this community Q&A, we learned that the team is working on a way to disable experience gain, has put additional hobbies on hold, has discussed and mostly dismissed multi-attachment mail, and is considering how dynamic events might work in the game. So do the devs play the game they make? Sapience says they do: "I think you'd be surprised at how many people at Turbine play LotRO on a regular basis." There are also a lot of interesting tidbits in this Q&A regarding the decisions behind prioritizing features, expanding into certain regions, and how the teams work in tandem to produce content. Finally, Sapience said that players should be seeing pre-order information for Riders of Rohan "Incredisoon™" and that there will probably be ways to attain the game's soundtrack in the future.
UK Advertising Authority smacks Motorola for misleading Atrix advert (video)
Oh dear. Remember Motorola's advert claiming the Atrix was the "world's most powerful smartphone?" Well it's now been banned in the UK by the Advertising Standards Authority. Viewers complained about the misleading phrase as the Galaxy S II has a faster 1.2 GHz processor, compared to Atrix's 1GHz. Moto said it meant "powerful" in the sense it could drive various devices -- the ASA didn't agree, since the phrase was read out over the final shot in the advert, where the phone appears in isolation. It ruled that as such, the advert was misleading and can only reappear on UK TV with the contentious phrase removed. Armchair adjudicators can decide for themselves in the video after the break.
UK Advertising Authority takes issue with Atrix's 'world's most powerful smartphone' status
Just about every day we're treated to claims of a device being the "world's first" or "world's biggest" or, indeed, "world's fastest." Typically we file these stories into the "world's least exciting" folder in our inbox, but in the UK, Motorola's advertising wing has really been pushing the "world's most powerful smartphone" angle for the Atrix. Sharp-eyed UK viewers (one of whom was kind enough to write in to us) aren't buying it, however, complaining to the nation's Advertising Standards Authority, the ASA. Citing the Galaxy S II, which has a 1.2GHz processor compared to the Atrix's 1GHz, the ASA has indicated that the complaint will be upheld, as you can see for yourself after the break. Now, it's looking like Motorola will have to come up with a new way to market the thing over there. We'd suggest "smartphone most likely to run Firefox in an overpriced laptop dock," but that doesn't quite have the same ring to it. [Thanks, Anonymous]
PlayStation Move ad banned in UK for condoning 'violent behavior'
The UK's Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has banned an ad for Sony's Move (and, by association, The Fight: Light's Out) after receiving eight complaints. Brand Republic reports that the watchdog agency said the ad was likely to "condone or encourage violent behavior" and wasn't suitable for children's precious, innocent modern eyes. Two of the complaints claimed the ad might condone racially motivated violence because the player is white and the man being tackled is "black." The ASA said the ad featured men of "slightly different skin tones," but wasn't likely to be interpreted as condoning racist violence. The race card may have been difficult to play on this ad (especially when compared to the infamous Dutch white PSP campaign), but the ASA has been concerned about violence in ads for quite some time. Previous kerfuffles had to do with violent imagery in ads for Kane & Lynch and Condemned 2.
Truth in advertising prevails in UK, Samsung to re-word 'LED TV' ads
Turns out it's not only us HD geeks that were irked by Samsung's ad-speak pitching LED-backlit LCDs as 'LED TVs' -- and in the UK, at least, there's been some corrective action. The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has found that the terminology doesn't comply with marketing regulations and is misleading because unless you've got a set like Jerry Jones', the display isn't made of LEDs. Spot on, ASA! To be sure, Sammy's new sets do have plenty of redeeming qualities, but whatever marketing genius came up with the 'LED TV' phrase is going to have to go back to the drawing board. Now, if only we could get some of this reasoning applied to US marketing and/or rein in wacky contrast ratio figures, we'd really be onto something. [Via HDTV Almanac]
Apple wins fight in U.K. over iPhone v Android claims
The U.K. advertising watchdog, the Advertising Standards Authority, says Apple is correct when it claims its App Store is better than the Google store for the Android. In a TV ad Apple claimed that the iPhone had apps for "just about anything". Fans of the Google Android, or at least ten of them, complained that their phone offered a similar and equal function. Apple responded that it made the claim "only on the iPhone" because its App Store "provided users with a unique experience unmatched by any other application marketplace, including the Android Market". "Because Apple had shown there were far more applications available for the iPhone than the G1 phone, and user experience of the iPhone and the App Store was distinct from its competitor, we concluded that the claim 'only on the iPhone' was justified and not misleading," said the ASA in its ruling. The Apple App Store has about 50,000 applications, while Google offers about 2,100. In the past, Apple hasn't done too well with the ASA. In November an iPhone ad was banned for misleading customers about the speed of the phone on the internet. Apple also had to pull ads for its first generation iPhone in August of 2008.
Report: UK Advertising authority to warn publishers to tone down violent ads
Overwhelming violence has never really been a problem in UK games advertising -- in fact, less than 1 percent of video game ads were turned down by the regulatory Advertising Standards Agency in the past year (a Kane and Lynch ad and Condemned 2 ad were the only offenders). However, according to a report from MCV, the ASA will publish new guidelines for gaming advertisements in September which will suggest publishers consider the "wider context of the impact their ads have," rather than simply fulfill the ASA's base requirements.Basically, the ASA is suggesting that publishers think about whether their advertisements will "offend and cause distress" throughout their ad consumers. Though the ASA admits that violent game ads have yet to be a problem in the UK, it'll use the new guidelines to "qualify the existing guidance to help publishers avoid problems in the future." That statement just confirms our long-held suspicion that the ASA is full-to-brim with psychics.
ASA won't do anything about Change4Life ad
The Advertising Standards Authority, within Her Majesty's domain in the UK, has rejected complaints that the government's Change4Life campaign is misleading or offensive. GI.biz reports that while the ASA did understand the complaints of trade group Tiga and several publishers, it found that the ad didn't "claim that playing computer or console games alone would lead to illness or premature death.""The Council" at the ASA found that most readers would understand that the ad was simply discouraging a sedentary lifestyle -- yes, but then why not put something else in the boy's hands ... like a book? Of course, if a book was put in the boy's hands to illustrate the point, it might upset the "only" time the ASA can act, which is when something "offends against widely accepted moral, social or cultural standards." Simply stated: games aren't a cultural standard, yet.
UK 'Change4Life' ad campaign attacks gamers
MCV reported this morning that an ad campaign titled "Change4Life," currently running in the United Kingdom, is targeting the region's gaming populace with some fairly suggestive remarks. Drawing a correlation between childhood game playing and "an early death," the British Heart Foundation, Diabetes UK and Cancer Research seem to have made an enemy in MCV, attracting an official complaint filed with the Advertising Standards Authority. MCV's Tim Ingham puts his site's opinion into perspective in a response post to the ad campaign, saying, "Change4Life's advertising campaign makes a mockery of everything the industry has achieved in the last decade. And it's bang out of order." We're inclined to agree with him based on what we've seen so far. For shame!
Microsoft Xbox video marketplace ad banned for being misleading
Apple isn't the only one to run afoul of the UK's Advertising Standards Authority, now that one of Microsoft's recent ads (embedded after the break) promoting its video rental service has been banned. Challenged because it fails to mention the viewing window (24 hours after pressing play / 14 days after download,) the board agreed, saying users may be influenced to purchase on the basis of being able to download and keep movies, which currently they can't. Microsoft argued that the ad was too short to get into the details of its DRM requirements, but maybe next time they'll hire one of the fast talking individuals from oh-so-many pharmaceutical ads for the last second disclaimer.[Via Joystiq Xbox & CVG]
ASA bans misleading Xbox 360 video rental service ad
UK's Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has struck an advertisement for Xbox 360's video download service with the ban hammer because it did not disclose the expiration time frame of Video Marketplace content. The ASA investigated the advert after receiving a complaint that it did not specify Microsoft's actual policy on video rentals, which states that rentals will become unwatchable 24 hours after initial viewing or 14 days after purchase. The ASA concluded that "new users could be influenced to purchase" with the belief that they would own the right to watch the film at any time. According to Webuser, Microsoft argues the brief television spot did not allow enough time to detail the entire Video Marketplace policy, but the ASA maintains the service has "significant conditions" that must be disclosed to consumers. It's true, gamers, you really don't own anything you put into your Xbox 360 console. Cracking it open will only reveal a stack of digital IOU's. [Image]
EA uses Xbox 360 graphics to sell Wii game in the UK
Tsk tsk, EA. It seems you've done a very naughty thing. Apparently, over in the UK, EA has been advertising Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09 in a very shady manner. They've been using the Xbox 360 version of the game in the ads, claiming it's gameplay from the Wii version of the game. Luckily, the UK's Advertising Standards Authority caught them. What could ever make EA do such a thing? Apparently, the images from the Wii version of the game weren't "broadcast quality." Sure thing, EA. Sure thing.[Via Joystiq]
EA uses Xbox 360 graphics to sell Wii game, gets caught
The UK's Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has told EA to stop broadcasting a misleading ad for Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09. In the commercial, Woods is swinging a Wii controller, but a complaint to the agency accused the ad of using footage from the Xbox 360 version of the game. Which it did, as confirmed by EA. The publisher's excuse for switching the footage: the Wii images wouldn't be of "broadcast quality."EA's ad agency stated that, in the future, it would make sure that the images and format being promoted match.[Via Gi.biz]
UK watchdog bans 'really fast' iPhone TV ads
The BBC reported today that a TV ad for the iPhone has been banned in the UK by the government's advertising standards watchdog group for being misleading. The Advertising Standards Authority received 17 complaints about the ad above, which showed web pages, the Maps application, and mail attachments loading in fractions of a second. The group said that the ad "led viewers to believe that the device actually operated at or near the speeds shown," the BBC story read. The ASA said after reviewing the complaints, "Because we understood that it did not, we concluded the ad was likely to mislead." Apple argued that the claims in the spot were "relative rather than absolute in nature," comparing the 3G speeds to the speeds of the first-generation iPhone. Nevertheless, the ad cannot be run on UK airwaves again in its current form. One of the complainants was a man named Roger Browning, who said in a post at The Guardian that he complained about the advertisement as retribution for a bad customer support experience he had with O2. Apple has run afoul of the ASA before, with a claim in August that the iPhone could view "the whole Internet." Since the iPhone doesn't support Flash and Java, the agency decided the ads were misleading, and yanked them off-air. [Via MacDailyNews.]
UK smacks Apple for another misleading iPhone commercial
We figured Apple would've learned its lesson after the UK's Advertising Standards Authority banned those "the real internet" iPhone commercials, but it looks like Steve's back in detention -- the ASA just ruled that another ad claiming that the iPhone is "really fast" is also misleading enough to be pulled. You've probably seen the similar US version of the ad, which shows the iPhone 3G loading a web page, switching to Maps to locate itself, downloading an attachment, and then finally taking a call, all in 30 seconds -- yeah, that doesn't happen. Apple claimed that its "Network performance may vary by location" disclaimer was enough to keep it safe, but the ASA wasn't having that: it said that the ad was likely to lead viewers to believe the iPhone was really that speedy. Of course, we're pretty certain most people understand that reality and advertising don't really have anything do with each other, but we're not the ones in charge -- just wait till the ASA finds out that drinking gallons of beer doesn't actually make you more attractive. Check the ad in question after the break.[Thanks, David]
ASA bans Condemned 2 telly ad five months late
The UK's Advertising Standards Authority has banned a pair of Condemned 2: Bloodshot commercials, just a little over five months after the game's release. Unlike the whopping 26 complaints that got a Kane & Lynch ad banned, the Condemned 2 spot was washed away in the deluge of ... nine complaints. Despite the pair of violent commercials being cleared for post-9PM showing, the ASA determined that "viewers were likely to find those scenes offensive and distressing and to see them as condoning real violence and cruelty." Check out what we believe to be one of the offensive ads, after the break. [Via GamePolitics]
UK's Advertising Standards Authority yanks iPhone ad for being misleading
Apple's iPhone 3G ads paint a pretty cheery picture of the device in action, but just as many of you have noted, the omission of Flash and Java means there's a big difference between what the "the real internet" and what's on the iPhone -- enough so that the UK's Advertising Standards Authority has pulled one of Apple's latest ads from the airwaves because it claims "all the parts of the internet are on the iPhone." At least two people complained to the ASA that the ad was misleading because sites that use Flash and Java don't work on the iPhone, and the board agreed, saying that "We concluded that the ad gave a misleading impression of the internet capabilities of the iPhone" because "viewers were likely to expect to be able to see all the content on a web site normally accessible through a PC rather than just having the ability to reach the website." If we had to guess, we'd say this decision is more likely to prompt Apple to be more careful with its ads in the future rather than ever bring Flash or Java to the iPhone, but you know Adobe is feeling pretty smug right about now. Check the ad after the break.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
