Broadband altnet Zzoomm posted a circular through the letter boxes of residents, which the ASA took issue with. The item was a ‘window’ envelope with the address, and the envelope contained the statement:
“Important notice. Disruption in your area.”
The letter clarifies this “Not the disruption you were expecting…But it’s the best kind. Homes across your area are switching to faster, more reliable Full Fibre broadband from Zzoomm – loving the difference […]”
The ASA received five complaints about the fact that the mailing was not labelled as marketing communications and implied it was about broadband disruption.
Hands up & apologies — Zzoomm pointed the finger at the former team responsible for the mailing and admitted the new one wouldn’t have used it; the new team being formed following the merger between Zzoomm and Full Fibre. They did say it was about communicating positive disruption rather than trying to mislead but that they appreciated the negative responses to the campaign.
Would you think the above might be marketing communication?
The ASA stated that the CAP Code stated that “marketing communications must be obviously identifiable as such” and the phrasing used would have misled users into believing it was not a marketing communication. It was not sufficient for this to be identifiable once the letter had been opened. They found the advert breached the code.
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It is crass advertising. I would like to think I would assess it for what it is, but if I received it, I would have an immediate negative impression of the outfit
I think there’s a funny element but if you opened it in a rush in the morning making you late for work, it would really annoy me too. I think it’s right to prohibit it..