The "miss-leading" news on banned iPhone ad

Have you been following the controversial iPhone ad in U.K.? As some of you who have, you must have your own arguments on is it right or not for Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) to banned the iPhone ad because it's "miss-leading".

The lack of Flash and Java support in iPhone's Safari web browser has caused a painful back-lash for Apple, especially for Steve Jobs who was strongly expressed his will not to allow those two of the most used proprietary technologies (from 3rd party software developers) in almost every websites nowadays.

It's the: "You'll never know which part of the internet you'll need" and "all parts of the internet are on the iPhone" lines said in the ad that made ASA to pull it off from airing. Watch the ad for yourself below, in the YouTube video I've embedded in this post.

Like usual, Apple quickly responsed to the accusation that the ad is referring to every website availability, rather than technical details or specific appearances. But ASA doesn't agree, and based on two complaints from local viewers, they said: "We concluded that the ad gave a misleading impression of the internet capabilities of the iPhone."

"Because the iPhone doesn't support Flash or Java, you couldn't really see the internet in its full glory," said Olivia Campbell, a spokesperson for the ASA. "They made a very general claim that you can see the internet in its entirety, and actually that's not quite true - so we've upheld."

Apple, a.k.a. Steve Jobs; has their own reason on why the Flash & Java are not supported in iPhone's Safari web browser. And ASA, which represent the mass local viewers right; has their own reason on pulling off the ad.

It's a tough world out there, a chaotic population that's filled with over-lapping rules fueled by certain interests from big companies. So I'm not gonna post my own oppinion on this one, it's better if I let you decide for yourself which is the right one; Apple or ASA? And whether or not the news is "miss-leading" us to see the 'bare-necessity' of mobile world. ;-)

Sources are from:

• Apple iPhone ad banned in UK due to "misleading" claims (AppleInsider)
• Why the UK was Wrong to Ban the iPhone “Just the Internet” Ad! (the iPhone Blog)
• iPhone ad rapped as 'misleading' (BBC News)

[blogged with my Treo 750v]