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ASA Bans Kia Warranty Ads

The British advertising watchdog, Advertising Standards Agency (ASA), struck another carmaker this week and censored some of its advertisements following a complaint made by Warranty Direct, an independent warranty provider. The {ad]manufacturer in question is Kia, while the censored adverts publicize Kia's extended warranty.

In the ads, Kia is making a big deal out of its seven-year warranty. Warranty Direct however says the ads Kia uses to advertise the warranty does not mention the 100,000-mile limit in years four to seven, nor does it say anything about different items being covered by the warranty for different lengths of time.

In essence, although the mileage limit was displayed during the ad, it was not on-screen during the visual and voice-over description of the warranty, What Car? reports.

ASA decided to go the Warranty Direct way and found that the ads are indeed misleading, as customers may begin to believe all parts of the car would be covered for seven years; it reality, this is not so.

Now, we don't know if you remember ASA from another news we reported last month. In July, ASA banned a BMW ad portraying the ActiveE electric vehicle because it believes it is also misleading.

The agency decided to stop BMW from running the ad because the claim that the ActiveE provides “electrifying performance and zero CO2 emissions when driving” is not true. Why?

The car is being recharged with power from the national grid and consumes electricity. Electricity is being produced by burning fossil fuels, which are pollutants. Hence, the ActiveE is not a zero emissions vehicle.
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About the author: Daniel Patrascu
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Daniel loves writing (or so he claims), and he uses this skill to offer readers a "behind the scenes" look at the automotive industry. He also enjoys talking about space exploration and robots, because in his view the only way forward for humanity is away from this planet, in metal bodies.
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