Ad watchdog bites Bulldog over boxers

'Speak up about your charges'

Bulldog has once again found itself on the wrong end of an Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) ruling. This time the ISP has been cautioned over the pricing of its 4Mbps broadband service.

The ASA received a complaint about a radio advert for the service based around a boxing match. The ad claimed "Bulldog's knockout broadband starts at a featherweight £10.50 a month" and "standard broadband doesn't stand a chance".

One listener pointed out that the £10.50 package only gave users eight hours of surfing, after which a charge of £1.50 per hour applied.

This, said the listener, should have been pointed out in the advert.

Bulldog told the ASA it had said in the advert that conditions applied to the offer. The ISP added the advert made it clear - by drawing comparison with other "standard" broadband packages - that the service was likely to be limited.

The ASA, however, didn't concur. "We disagreed that the advertisement made a clear comparison between the Bulldog service and other limited standard broadband services as we considered a time-based restriction was significantly different to a download cap," it said in its adjudication. It added that the eight-hour limit and £1.50 charge "were significant conditions which should have been made clear in the advertisement".

The Authority ruled that the advert should not be re-broadcast without changes.

The ruling marks the second time in a month the ISP has fallen foul of the ad watchdog, after another radio advert promised broadband speeds Bulldog couldn't deliver.