The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has ruled in favour of MTN on the complaint lodged against Cell C for its radio advertisements and YouTube campaign that accused MTN of fighting to keep telecommunication prices high.
Following the decision by MTN to file papers against the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) regarding the mobile termination rates process, Cell C embarked on a radio and YouTube campaign that depicts MTN as acting against the best interests of consumers.
ASA found that Cell C has misled the public and abused the trust of the consumers, and has instructed Cell C to remove all the infringing adverts.
“We are pleased with the ruling by the ASA as it vindicates our position that the Cell C adverts were misleading and in bad taste. We believe that consumers deserve quality service and products. We remain unwavering in our commitment to provide them with a world class quality network that they have come to expect from MTN,” says MTN chief marketing officer, Brian Gouldie.
The ruling is for the first of several complaints MTN has lodged with the ASA against Cell C’s advertising campaign.
Gouldie says MTN’s application for a pre-clearance sanction request has been deferred pending a ruling on two other complaints.