Note: This advice is given by the CAP Executive about non-broadcast advertising. It does not constitute legal advice. It does not bind CAP, CAP advisory panels or the Advertising Standards Authority.
The ASA has upheld several complaints about advertisements for mobile phone ringtones, logos, wallpapers and games because marketers did not include clear body copy statements that people texting the advertised number were not buying an individual ring tone or wallpaper but were automatically registering for a weekly subscription service (Jamba! AG, 6 April 2005; Teleworld, 22 December 2004, and FTXT, 18 May 2005). For example, one advertisement by Jamba! claimed ringtones were “from as little as 30p* in the Ringtoneking clubs!” with subscription service pricing information in the small print. But the use of the word “club” or “store” has been considered inadequate to communicate readers’ continuing financial commitment and to make clear to readers that they are subscribing to a service: explaining the nature of the service or that commitment in the smallprint is unlikely to satisfy the ASA. To avoid misleading the consumer, marketers should state clearly and prominently in the body copy that they are offering a subscription service (or that consumers can join their “club”) and include any billing period, for example a daily, weekly or monthly subscription charge.
A marketer may advertise in the same advertisement the cost of individual ringtones as well as subscription-only services but should not misleadingly imply that individual ringtones can be bought if they cannot. The ASA has upheld complaints that a prominent headline such as “ringtones from as little as 30p” or “Just 50p” implied all products advertised could be bought without subscribing (Red Circle Technologies t/a TXT UK, 21 March 2003). It should be apparent from the body copy how much each of the products on offer will cost, including any subscription commitment.
Marketers should take care when using the term “free”. If receiving the first product “free” is subject to signing up to a subscription service, the marketer should make clear that longer term premium-rate charges will be incurred.
Mobile download products, especially chart ringtones and games are more likely to appeal to children than to adults; marketers should therefore take extra care to give clear pricing information and not exploit the credulity of children. (Rule 5.2).
Marketers should be aware that services promoted to children under the age of 16 should not exceed £3 in total. Because they are continuing financial commitments, subscription services are likely to exceed £3 and should therefore not be advertised to children under the age of 16. Care should be taken to ensure that any service exceeding £3 is advertised only in media that have readers of 16 and over. The use of a statement such as “callers must be 16 or over” is unlikely to make an ad for a subscription service exceeding £3 acceptable if readers are predominantly under 16 (Red Circle Technologies t/a TXT UK, 10 November 2004).
The ASA has upheld a complaint about an advertisement, for mobile phone downloads, that contained images of wallpapers of an explicit content. Although it considered that the images were unlikely to cause widespread offence, the ASA concluded that images of semi-naked women in an ad for downloadable ringtones and wallpapers that were likely to appeal to children were unsuitable for a family magazine that could be seen by children (Jamba! AG t/a Ringtoneking, 19 January 2005).
Marketers must provide information in an easy and uncomplicated way to unsubscribe from any subscription service, for example “To unsubscribe text STOPRingtoneClub” or “To unsubscribe text STOP to xxxxx”.
Last modified : 14 October 2010