Operator challenges rival to clarify advert, referring to a number of network performance awards it has itself won recently
EE has reported Three to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) over an advert where it claims to have the the UK’s most reliable network.
The advertisement shows Jackson, the purple puppet used in Three’s current advertising campaign, punching the air and accompanied by the message: ‘The undisputed. UK’s most reliable network. Again’ This is followed by #makeitright.
However, EE is disputing the ‘undisputed’ claim, referring to a number of awards it has won itself for the reliability of its own network.
The latest was from network testing organisation RootMetrics for the first half of this year, which saw EE win or be tied for 16 out of 23 awards across the UK for ‘Overall Performance’.
An EE spokesperson said: “We’d agree that reliability is critical to mobile customers. Purple puppets aside, it’s well known that to claim undisputed, you need to win and unify the awards across all the awarding bodies. EE has recently won reliability awards, but that doesn’t make us ‘undisputed’. We’ve simply asked Three to reflect this.”
Three has based the claims it made in the advertisement on YouGov surveys conducted over the last two years. A Three spokesperson said: “According to YouGov, Three has been rated the most reliable network by consumers on five consecutive occasions. Customers rated Three highest on all topics relating to reliability, such as reliability for calls and texts, reliability during the day and reliability during the evening. Three also came out top for ‘Overall Reliability’.
Mobile News is awaiting comment from Three.
