ASA prohibits deceptive NOW advertisement

Sky's streaming service, NOW, had one of its online advertisements prohibited by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) due to it being considered 'misleading,' following a single complaint that was upheld.

On March 29th, the homepage of the NOW website displayed a promotion for an 'Entertainment 6 Month Saver for £6.99 a month.' The page provided details about the plan, including the minimum subscription term, the inclusion of free trials for Cinema and Boost, and the cancellation policy. Additional Terms & Conditions were listed in a drop-down section, in small text, which stated: “Cinema and Boost members only. After your 7-day free trial […] Boost auto-renews at £6 a month, unless cancelled. You can cancel anytime. Ad-free excludes live channels and trailers promoting NOW content. Boost features available on selected content and devices only. See here for more details.” This text linked to a webpage with more details about the ‘Boost’ features.

The complainant argued that the advertisement was misleading because it failed to clarify that all NOW membership plans included ads unless upgraded to the ‘Boost’ plan.

In response, NOW acknowledged the issue but argued that the presence of ads was not a significant aspect of the service, noting that ad-supported membership plans were common and well-known among customers since their introduction in 2015. Sky UK added that if ad-free viewing was important to a customer, they would expect them to check the NOW website for information on the different membership tiers.

The ASA upheld the complaint and ruled that "The ad must not appear again in its current form." They also advised Sky UK Ltd, trading as NOW, to ensure that future advertisements do not omit important information, such as the inclusion of ads with basic streaming membership plans.