Outsurance ordered to pull advert over Cape Town pointsmen claim - TimesLIVE
The Advertising Regulatory Board (ARB) has upheld a complaint against Outsurance over radio advertising for its pointsmen traffic-management programme, finding that the ads could mislead Cape Town listeners into believing the service operates in the city.
The advertisements, broadcast on CapeTalk, repeatedly said Outsurance pointsmen had been “easing traffic congestion” for 20 years and helped motorists get to their destinations “quickly and safely”.
However, the pointsmen service is not currently available in the City of Cape Town, with Outsurance confirming that its Western Cape operations were limited to Paarl and Stellenbosch.
Outsurance argued that the 20-year claim was historical and did not suggest the service operated in any particular area. It also said the ads did not explicitly claim that pointsmen operated in Cape Town and that radio advertising could reach areas beyond the programme’s operating footprint.
The ARB rejected that argument, saying advertising must be assessed in the context in which it is broadcast and according to how a reasonable listener would interpret it. Because CapeTalk’s principal audience is in the Cape Town metropolitan area, the absence of any geographic qualification could create the impression that the pointsmen service was available to local motorists.
The ARB found that the advertising contravened clause 4.2.1 of section II of the Code of Advertising Practice, which deals with misleading claims, specifically through omission.
“The claim that the pointsmen ‘have been easing traffic congestion for the past 20 years’ is not in dispute as a historical statement, and it is true that the advertisement does not, on its face, name Cape Town or claim coverage of any specific municipality,” said the ARB.
“The overall impression created by an advertisement is, however, assessed with reference to more than its literal wording, and extends to the context in which it is broadcast as well as how a normal, reasonable person would interpret it.
“CapeTalk is a radio station whose principal identity and primary listenership are closely associated with the City of Cape Town metropolitan area, and the advertisement, directed at that listenership, contains no qualification indicating that the service it describes is largely unavailable in the area from which the broadcast draws its audience.”
The ARB has instructed Outsurance to withdraw the advertisements in their current form from CapeTalk and any other radio station primarily targeting Cape Town.
