A national press ad for the TiVo included the text “Stuff thinks it’s the best way to watch TV. Ever. What do you think? …”.
The advert also included an extract from Stuff magazine which said: “A truly next generation PVR that should have Sky shaking in its boots”.
However Sky challenged the advert, saying it misleadingly implied the magazine ranked the TiVo ahead of its own Sky+ HD 1TB box.
The ASA said its investigations showed that the magazine’s review went on to say: “But content is king and Sky has access to so much more HD and 3D for similar cash. If you’re a Sky broadband user, you could also get free access to its Anytime+ on-demand goodies”.
The watchdog also noted that “both products were given an equal rating of five stars” by Stuff.
The ASA have ruled the ad breached the code on misleading advertising and have instructed Virgin Media “to ensure claims that were likely to be interpreted as factual and appeared in testimonials were not misleading or likely to mislead.”
The advert cannot be run again in its current form.
The ASA has previously requested Virgin Media modify other claims about its TiVo service.
Two further complaints by Sky were rejected.