ASA slaps Talk Talk for ‘UK’s Safest Broadband” claim

Advertising watchdog the ASA has banned a Talk Talk television advert which claimed that the internet provider’s broadband package was the "UK’s safest."

The TV ad featured a toy family in a dolls house, apparently guarded by a row of toy soldiers while a voice-over claimed that "Talk Talk homes have the UK’s safest broadband thanks to HomeSafe." The ISP didn’t elaborate on what this safety meant and it’s this which the ASA seems to have objected to most of all.

"We considered that customers could interpret safest as referring to a number of features, such as virus protection or protection from hacking," said the ASA in a ruling, adding that "Home Safe only offered a basic range of security features."

The ASA also took aim at Talk Talk’s use of the term "network level security" as if consumers were supposed to know what this meant.

"As Talk Talk were not able to substantiate that customers would enjoy the safest online experience with them, we concluded ad was misleading."

The watchdog banned the advert and told Talk Talk to " ensure that the basis for comparative claims was made clear in future."