Telecommunications Company Orange has been ordered to withdraw a controversial advertisement following an order by the Advertising Standards Body of Kenya saying it breached the code of advertising and directing marketing.
The appeal filed by rival company Safaricom orders the company to withdraw the advertisement piece regarding an Orange commercial that involved use of Safaricom’s SIM cards, call rates and corporate colours, from all media outlets.
Orange failed to make it clear in the advertisement that the rate comparisons were off-peak hours rather than general comparisons. “The claim is misleading and should be withdrawn from mediums it is run or edited to make the comparison clear,” read the verdict.
The advert that started running on January 8 putting Safaricom in the light of the most expensive network while claiming to be the cheapest. This came out as misleading to the subscribers since Safaricom has a price point of sh2 per minute during off-peak hours.
Orange is being held against failure to make it clear in the advertisement that rate comparisons were for off-peak hours rather than general comparisons.
