Kevin Bacon avoids slapped wrist after TV pipe-fatness claims EE has received a stern talking to from the Advertising Standards Authority for website claims of "superfast" connectivity, though when Kevin Bacon says the same thing on TV that's OK. The difference is the context: on TV Kevin's words are accompanied by numbers and comparisons to 3G, while the web ad just made the "superfast …
It's nothing new really. Hollywood actors are more than happy to appear in ads outside of the US. Just look for the Arnie ads he did in Japan for some whacked out craziness.
Taking the ad dollar domestically definitely gives a negative impression of how well they're doing.
But it does so here and the movie market is more international nowadays so...
In conclusion - no idea. Maybe Bruce Willis and Al Pacino owe Rupert Murdoch something?
I remember when EE first launched 4G, there was a billboard outside the EE store where I live, and a massive poster explaining how we can get 4g connection NOW. Except we couldn't, we still can't.
Apparently though they have no say at all over in store advertisement, so I can only assume a fair few less tech savvy folks have gone out, bought a 4g contract and had no way to make use of it.
But hey ho, that's what you get with a toothless guardian with limited reach.
If Oracle were to employ Kevin he would say: "Oracle, you know paying them a fortune is in your best interest! Like paying me to do this ad..."
If Apple were to employ Kevin he would say: "Just holding this device means you can experience what it means to be me!"
If Microsoft were to employ Kevin he would say: "Like me, you too can know the joy to be free of the Start Menu"
If El Reg were to employ Kevin he would say: "Read The Register and be able to see through through ads like this!"
I can't believe that Sky have been allowed to get away with their "Al Pacino on a piano" advert that implies that to stream music from the internet you need fibre-optic broadband.
To be fair, Sky's adverts also hinge on the fact that they have no limits, so they won't throttle your connection.
As I recall from my dim and heady childhood way back in the 70s, "Superfast" was a line of Matchbox cars (the real solid metal ones - remember those?) of which I had several examples in my toybox. I also had the associated plastic track with the loop-the-loops and the "Superbooster" car-flinger that propelled the Matchbox cars around it. I'm still annoyed to this day that my mother ended up giving it all to the church when I grew up and stopped playing with it. The collection would probably be worth thousands today.
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