Court rules for Optus in ‘End of Empires’ fight with Telstra
The latest round in the telcos’ battle over misleading advertising has been won by Optus, with the Victorian Supreme Court dismissing Telstra’s claims over the ‘End of Empires’ campaign this morning.
Optus’ out of home and online campaign created by their inhouse Yes Agency, ran in early May. The ads featured a phone box, clearly identifiable as a Telstra payphone, lying ruined in the desert with the headline: “Empires end. That’s what they do.” followed by a claim “the Optus Mobile Network has been ranked best overall in voice and data.”
Telstra won a court injunction in early May preventing Optus from showing the ad, claiming it misrepresented the state of the two mobile networks.
The first point seems fair – Optus deftly made it about performance, not size. And let’s face it, Telstra is getting a sticky reputation for catastrophic network failures of late.
On the unlimited (yet “shaped”) plan thing against Optus – that’s just inexcusable. I’m well informed that this precise scenario has been clearly outlined in their internal compliance training documents. Mainly as they got pinged for millions a few years ago.
It is a novice trap as old as telco advertising. No excuse – Optus (and others) should arguably have been pinged for more.
The unlimited ruling went against Telstra, not Optus.