Charter says it will comply with a decision by the BBB National Programs’ National Advertising Division (NAD) concerning a Spectrum home Internet service ads, despite the fact that it disagrees with the finding.
The challenge, which was brought by AT&T Services, was to three spots (two 60-second and one 30-second) featuring celebrity spokesperson Michelle Monaghan. The focus was on the statement that “Spectrum offers the fastest speeds in more neighborhoods than any other provider.”
NAD acknowledges that Charter has evidence that it offers faster speeds than other providers in more census blocks, ZIP codes, and broadband service locations. However, it found that, contrary to the ad, Spectrum did not offer “fastest speeds” in “more neighborhoods.”
The decision seemed to center on the imprecision of the term “neighborhoods.” The announcement says that NAD “concluded that Charter’s evidence was not a good fit to support this broad availability message.
“Further, while Charter’s evidence may support claims tying Spectrum’s fastest speeds to more ZIP codes or census blocks, NAD cautioned Charter to modify future claims about ‘neighborhoods’ to clearly and conspicuously disclose the basis of the comparison.”
In addition to the Spectrum ads, NAD is actively helping service providers police themselves. Some examples:
- In August, it found that Verizon had provided a reasonable basis for claims about its Home Internet service.
- Also in August, the National Advertising Review Board (NARB), the appellate advertising body of BBB National Programs, advised AT&T to discontinue or modify claims that imply its supplemental coverage from space service (SCS) was currently available.
- In late July, NAD found that Comcast Cable Communications Management LLC provided a reasonable basis for its claim in an Xfinity ad that says internet service is fast, reliable, and “powerful.”
In its statement about the Spectrum ads, Charter said it “is disappointed with NAD’s decision but will comply with its recommendations” despite the fact that it “strongly disagrees with NAD’s conclusion.”
