Eir advert offering sports channel for ‘€1 a month’ breached standards

Ireland’s advertising watchdog has ruled an Eir advert offering a sports channel bundle for “only €1 a month” and another promoting its broadband speeds breached standards.

The latest report from the Advertising Standards Authority of Ireland (ASAI) upheld two complaints against the State's largest telecommunications company.

Other complaints upheld and published in the report included findings against University College Dublin and Paddy Power.

The first consumer complaint against Eir said the sports bundle ad was “misleading” as the man was unable to find the real price of the offer and was “forced to click into the page” to find out what the offer was.

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The authority found the homepage offer made no indication that the sports bundle could only be bought as part of a broadband package.

The authority required the advertising not to be used in the same format again.

The second upheld complaint against Eir said a leaflet advertising broadband speeds of 100mb was “misleading” after a test revealed the actual speed was only 17mb.

The leaflet did not include the term “up to”. The complainant also said the footnote disclaimer on the ad was “very difficult to read”.

The watchdog concluded that although the footnote stated “speeds may vary”, it could be easily overlooked by consumers due to the size and volume of the text, and it not being linked to the main text in the ad.

The authority ordered the advert not be used in the current format again.

A total of 18 of the 20 complaints against advertisements were upheld in the report.

Consumer protection

ASAI chief executive Orla Twomey said the authority was committed to protecting consumers and holding advertisers to account.

“As we approach the busy Christmas and New Year period, it’s important that consumers know that the ASAI is committed in their best interests to ensuring that all advertising is legal, decent, honest and truthful,” she said.

Other complaints upheld included:

* A complaint made against UCD over the advertised cost of a master's course.

*A partially upheld complaint against Paddy Power. The man who submitted the complaint said the ad had "drawn him into a cycle" and "cost him a fortune".

*A complaint against company Dublin Tint said imagery used in the advertising was "totally sexist, belittling and demeaning of women". The ad featured a woman wearing a black jacket opened at the front, with her breasts partly on display, with the caption: "You decide what to show."