So just what is the worlds most powerful smartphone? Motorola would have you believe it's their Atrix, but the UK Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) begs to differ. After receiving complaints about one of their adverts, they made the ruling that because the Samsung Galaxy S II has a faster processor the Motorola claims could be seen as misleading.
Motorola claims that the power of the Atrix isn't processor focused, but more about its overall abilities and combined features, but this apparently doesn't matter. The advertisement is only allowed to be shown going forwards without the offending phrase.
Would it confuse you? Check out the advert after the break and make your own decision.
Source: Daily Telegraph
Reader comments
Motorola Atrix not the most powerful smartphone in the world says the UK
Whatever...How bout that?
*sighs* ridiculous really, at the time it came out it pretty much was the worlds most powerful smartphone.... its not anymore but the tag line and ad was from when it first came out it doesnt hold weight anymore and people would know that if they bothered to look around.
Dear McDonalds, change your slogan before I cry. "I'm Lovin' it" is putting words in my mouth when I indeed, do not love it. Don't make me cry and make a huge deal about it, cause I will.
....Why can't companies just grow up.
This statement is absolutely rediculous. Motorola is trying to make claims that are factually false. The mcdonalds slogan is oppinionated. And it is misleading. I work in retail and I have people asking for the evo 3d and not for the 3d capabilities but because they think its the fastest phone on sprint while the photon is far superior minus 3d capabilities. People I deal with don't evem give the photon a second look because they honestly think the evo 3d is faster. I'm tired of all the returns when people tell a phone is crap because its not as fast as they thought it would be.
You've got to be kidding me. Idiots, everywhere, everywhere I tell you...
This is silly. If Bugatti says they produce the most powerful sports car in the world they could be sued and prevented from saying that because some redneck built ten Mustangs with one extra horsepower.
Oh, it is important to know that some of my best friends are rednecks (I'm in Texas!)
Well, if the redneck went into the production car business then Bugatti would have a problem.
Well, to play the devil's advocate here, I for one would welcome British Advertising standards in the US.
We have way too many unsubstantiated claims full of weasel words and ridiculous assertions, about phones, cars, and everything else.
We have way too many carriers telling us they have the fastest, most powerful, network, each claiming to be 4G, (a phrase that use to actually have a technical meaning).
In the UK, I'm told you don't have to be a lawyer to read an advertisement.
I'm told that in the UK you don't see car advertisements showing vehicles racing thru city streets at break neck speeds, all excused with the phrase "Professional Driver on a Closed Course".
Yes lets put more government regulation into my life. Makes it easier to not think for myself....
Sarcasm aside, I was a pharmaceutical sales rep for a while. My friends who sold auto parts and sporting goods took their clients to sporting events and dinner clubs. I had the FDA telling me I couldn't give my customers and ink pen because I was bribing a doctor and making medicines too expensive for little old ladies to afford.
I am throwing a big BULLSHIT flag on this play.
You think vendors should be able to lie about their products in advertising? Brilliant. I bet you also don't think there should be any consumer protection in place for when you are deceived into buying something due to said advertising. Libertarians are nuts.
um yeah thanks for making prescription drugs so expensive that many people have to make runs to the borders north and south to get the same exact drugs at the fraction of the costs. but anyway that's off the point sorry
I'm going to call bullshit on your comment as well. I worked in a hospital and a nursing home and you know what day everyone looked forward to? The day the Pharmaceutical reps showed up. We knew on that day that not only would the reps be leaving plenty of free samples of whatever drug they were pushing they would also bring plenty of food and drinks and other "goodies" and that was something that was known throughout the area, not just the places I worked.
I know it's a little off topic but I had to reply. By the way, I agree with what the UK is doing. We have too many sleazy commercials telling half truths and whole lies. I'm so tired of hearing someone whispering disclaimers at supersonic speed during every commercial I watch.
Most Powerful phone? When will it get some support. On Bell, and it's almost September--still stuck on yesteryears 2.2.
I just wish the atrix had more support from Motorola accessories like docks are to high why should we have to root our phone to make it do what it should already should do. The capabilities could b flawless fingerprint reader this is a baby net book I believe the next versions down the road will have the crown.
I have the Motorola Photon 4G from Sprint and it`s android 2.3.4, and it`s pretty fast.
The other day I was walking in the desert and I remembered that I had a beer. I opened it up and lo and behold an oasis popped out of nowhere, repleat with hot bikini babes and a swimming pool! I also sprayed axe on my clothes, went into an elevator full of hot women and they attacked me. It rocked.
On a serious note, I too wish we had more strict regulation on advertising claims. It's pretty ridiculous what vendors can get away with here in the US. I'd also require vendors to list their actual prices instead of allowing them to quote a cheap price, but tack on a bunch of fees that should be rolled into the price to begin with.
I think the sarcastic post died like 10 post ago...
Point one for Sammy.
I smell lawsuit #32246865 brewing...
Good, does that mean they will also ask Apple to remove the slogan "Only on the iPhone" from their advertising too, because those functions can be done with pretty much any smartphone.
The truth is its definately not the most powerful phone in the world, for overall performance that falls to the S2 or the sensation. Therefore they should not be allowed to make false claims as many people don't put research into these things as they don't really care about technology in the same way as most people on these forums do and tend to go by adverts and the like (hence why Apples so popular I suppose ;) ,magical my arse) . It makes perfect sense to not allow companies to make false or misleading statements about their products and if that doesn't happen in the US then it surprises me with the amount of lawsuits slung about with very little reason over there.
New Advert: World's Hottest Smartphone.
now if they can just deal with the misleading implication that you can throw it out windows without harming it...
There should be some level of art allowed in advertising. If a consumer utilizes only the information in an advertisement to make the decision for a purchase like this then they are the victim of their own ignorance. Websites like this one exist for a reason, as do consumer reports, cnet, etc. It should be on the consumer to research their purchases, and understand their right to return as well. As for the person commenting as the pharmaceutical rep, the cost of many prescriptions are ridiculous and doing anything to influence doctors to prescribe a particular med should be illegal. Many of those situations are life altering, and shouldn't be compared with the sale of a consumer product.
"It should be on the consumer to research their purchases"
No, it should be on the vendor to not lie in their advertising. It's an undue burden to expect every consumer to do research and more importantly understand what they are reading, especially on a geek site like this. Heck, half the people who actually post on this site don't seem to understand technology. Imagine what that percentage is like in the population as a whole.
I don't know why anyone is making such a big deal out of this. Just about every product out there includes some sort of slogan or advertisement billing it as being the best at something. Usually it isn't true, or it is completely relative to particular circumstances. To me false advertising is claiming a phone has a certain feature that it doesn't have. Simply stating that it is "The Most Powerful" is something that cannot be measured.
Most powerful can be measured if you use common sense. Power in a smartphone means speed and processing capability.
I don't quite understand how people think it's ok for advertisers to lie. It's not.
No one is overtly lying at the time these adverts were made up the atrix 4g was pretty much one of the only dual core phones with 1 gig of ram that had hit the market making it the most powerful based off its core specs. Basically they are telling motorola to drop their old tag line and create a new advertising campaign for a product that is getting on in age. If something launched as the most powerful device and advertised as such they should suddenly drop that tag line from everything they use and have to spend more money on new ad campaigns?
It wasnt false advertising when the device came out. Now it could be construed as such as you have had months of beefier more powerful devices coming out and the tag line "Worlds Most powerful smartphone" isnt true anymore.... However i think its a bit silly to be forced to change old advertising for pretty much any products unless they are deceptive from the get go....
Strict rules on initial advertisements are one thing but bring it up when an advertising is first put out if its not true....