Uber wins against Taxi Council over misleading ads, claiming ride-share service ‘unsafe’
Ads launched by the NSW Taxi Council suggesting that people were putting their safety at risk by using Uber have been slated by the Advertising Claims Board after Uber lodged a complaint against the campaign.
The radio and print campaign by the council was hosted on the NSW Taxi Council’s website, with the Council defending the campaign, saying it did not fall within the remit of the Claims Board.
“The NSW Taxi Council responded to the complaints stating that all claims made in the advertisements could be reasonably substantiated,” the Board said.
“The NSW Taxi Council also argued that the complaint was outside the scope of the Claims Board because the complaint was made after advertising had already ceased to be published or broadcast, and the advertisements were only available via the Council’s website, as part of excluded public relations communications.”
Advertising Claims Board: NSW Taxi Council ads against Uber “misleading”
Uber said claims made in the campaign were misleading and deceptive because its ride-sharing services are safe.
The Board rejected the claim by the NSW Taxi Council that the complaint did not fall under its remit.
“The Claims Board determined that, while the advertisements were only accessible through a section of the website that included public relations materials, in this case the actual advertisements were published and made accessible via the NSW Taxi Council’s website, including links to the advertisements themselves. As such, the public relations exemption did not apply,” it said.
In concluded that the claims were misleading and “likely to cause damage to a competitor”.
The advertising has been discontinued and the links to the ads removed from the Taxi Council’s website.
However, the press release announcing the campaign remains on the Taxi Council website.
“The NSW Taxi Industry has launched the second phase of its campaign highlighting the risks of illegal taxi services and the importance of regulated passenger services for the people of NSW,” the release said.
“The new ads reminds passengers that the NSW Taxi Industry puts safety first. CEO of the NSW Taxi Council, Mr Roy Wakelin-King, said that the NSW Government has, over a number of years, put in place important laws to protect the public.
“‘Allowing illegal taxi services to operate puts the public at risk and it would be a backward step for transport services in NSW,’ he said.
“We cannot afford to go back in time where the public and drivers are exposed to substandard operating systems that remove basic safety provisions’.”
Simon Canning
The starting point of every great campaign must ber a great product. UBER has a great product. Taxis offer a dreadful product. Whiile there is truth in the notion that it is not a level playing field – it is typically Australian for TAXI businesses to want to regulate UBER rather that improve their own offering. I say again – every greta marketing story startes witha grear product
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The NSW Taxi Council is right (and all other states too) when it says that Taxi services put people at risks.
If you disregard UBER’s superior convenience and affordability, and focus solely on safety as the NSW Taxi Council is doing…one company has their drivers assessed after every individual passenger trip. That same company’s drivers must hold a 4.5 star rating for customer satisfaction (which is rated on the customers personal view on their safety, the driver’s ability to drive). All cars are regularly inspected and they provide an app that tracks exactly who your driver is, where they’ve taken you, at what time, and you can share that with a friend to let them know when you get to your destination safely.
As for the other company that has taken advantage of their monopoly of the market, with under qualified drivers who don’t know how to get from a to b, that over charge, that are physically abusive and have many reports of sexually predatory acts towards passengers that travel in their unsafe, old, under-maintained vehicles…
i know which one i’ll be choosing. Yes there are outlying examples from both sides where uber drivers aren’t as sparkly as they’re perceived, and cab drivers who aren’t as filthy as they’re perceived, but if the Taxi’s were offering a better product, their marketing would focus on the taxi experience and not trying to bring uber down.
That money that went into marketing should have gone into training drivers and upgrading the cars and technology.
Time to migrate elsewhere all the dinosaurs making the calls for taxis. They can’t win this war.
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I live out at Western Nerang. Taxis anywhere cost a fortune. Public transport is ineffectual to non existent,a fault of successive governments not investing. Just getting to and from the airport often costs more than the flights! Even the Airport buses refuse to pick up West of the highway. So why wouldn’t one choose a service like Uber? All the taxi arguments about public safety are hogwash. It is clear as daylight that it is about competition of service and per $ paid Uber has won that. Taxi licences are another matter. The ridiculously high price of the licences have meant that the owners have to charge high prices in order to recoup their outlay. Sorry guys but this has always been the downfall of businesses since time immortal. Not to see the writing on the wall. Nobody cried for all the photo labs when digital destroyed their business.
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