Banned In Britain: UK Quashes Bruce Willis Ad

Bruce Willis, the Hollywood actor known for causing mayhem in many of his action films has now caused a stir across the pond in an ad for BSkyB.

A TV spot that the “Die Hard”  movie franchise star was featured in for the satellite carrier’s broadband service was banned by UK advertising authorities for being misleading.

The ad claimed that BSkyB’s monthly broadband service was “less than half” the cost of the service provided by competitor British Telecom. “Demand more from your broadband,” the ad’s voiceover intoned.

But in a ruling published today, the Advertising Standards Authority kicked the Willis ad off the air, citing a viewer complaint that it didn’t make clear the commitments that consumers had to make in order to get the advertised price (7.50 British Pounds or roughly $11.64).

Like being a Sky TV customer, which costs a minimum of $33 and change a month. And also committing to a call package priced at an additional $22.50 a month.

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The advertiser countered that those commitments were spelled out in the ad, albeit in small print at the bottom of the screen as the voiceover bellowed out the fantastic deal price.

The Ad Authority ruled that the additional consumer commitments were not “sufficiently prominent,” and therefore banned “in its current form” the ad, which was created by ad shop WCRS.

The story was first reported in the UK publication Campaign.

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