Virgin Media wi-fi claim investigated by ASA; New ASA guidelines for food ads; 17% of teens report “constant” use of TikTok

by Aimee Newell Tarín on 14th Dec 2023 in News

On today’s ExchangeWire digest: Virgin Media wi-fi claim investigated by ASA; New ASA guidelines for food ads; 17% of teens report “constant” use of TikTok…

As the week goes on, more companies are facing the wrath of the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). Virgin Media is the latest to come under fire for making sweeping statements, with one of its ads being banned by the watchdog for claiming the “fastest wi-fi guarantee of any major provider”. The ad was investigated following a complaint from Virgin’s competitor, Vodafone. According to Virgin, the ad was meant to convey that it guaranteed customers a minimum 30Mbps download speed on wi-fi, which is a faster speed guarantee than others offer. However, the watchdog ruled that most customers would understand its wi-fi was faster than others’, which was not the case. The ASA stated “because the claim had not been substantiated as it would be understood by customers, we concluded that the ad was misleading.”

Yesterday, the ASA published new guidelines on UK ads for “less healthy” food and drink products, which are set to take effect in October 2025. The new rules will ban ads for identifiable less healthy products from being in paid-for space online, as well as banning them from appearing in Ofcom-regulated TV services and on-demand programme services between 5:30am and 9pm. The foods which classify as less healthy are those which contain a high content of fat, salt, or sugar.

In the social media sphere, new research shows that YouTube remains the top social app among US teens. The Pew Research Center questioned 1,453 teenagers between the ages of 13 and 17, finding that roughly 90% use YouTube, making it the most widely used platform measured in the survey. Fewer said they used TikTok at 63%, Snapchat at 60%, and Instagram at 59%, although these figures rose closer to 70% among the older teens (15-17 years old). Investigating the frequency of each platform’s use, they found 17% describe their TikTok use as constant. Snapchat fared similarly, with 14% describing constant use. In contrast, Facebook – which once dominated the social landscape – was only used by 33% of teen respondents.