The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has banned an advert by Taiwanese electronics company HTC featuring Olympic diver Tom Daley, after it implied that one of its mobile phones could be used in swimming pools.
The ad sees Mr Daley using the HTC U11 to take selfies while diving from a board and landing in the swimming pool below, submerging the phone in the water.
But a complainant contacted the ASA after noting that while the instructions for the phone stated it was water resistant in fresh water, the ad misleadingly implied the product would also work in a pool with chlorinated water.
HTC Europe defended the advertisement, saying that, by landing feet first, Mr Daley was able to keep the U11 within the 1m depth required to remain within the phone’s capabilities.
It added that the handset could work in different liquid environments for various periods of time, but there were too many variations of water temperature and chemical composition to “provide a statement” that the U11 was compatible with most standard swimming pools.
Read The Telegraph
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