During May, ringtone seller Jamster flooded TV commercial breaks
with adverts that featured the animated amphibian in a leather
motorcycle cap and goggles. Backed by a nauseating dance version of
Harold Faltermeyer's 1980s hit Axel F, Crazy Frog drove viewers to
distraction with his revving noises which became louder and louder
in the ad.
The Advertising Standards Authority received the first
complaints over the campaign, the cost of which has been estimated
at over £10 million. A few argued that the ad was too irritating
for TV; but irritation alone is not a breach of the advertising
rules. Another 60 viewers complained about the visible Crazy Frog
genitalia. The complaint was not upheld: the ASA decided that there
was no sexual or inappropriate reference in the ad to the Frog's
protrusion and no children had been upset by it.
Few will doubt the success of the campaign for Jamster, the UK
subsidiary of Germany's iLove GmbH. The ads sold enough CD singles
of the tune to take it to number one in the charts for three weeks;
but the more lucrative ringtone sales were the really big hit,
although total sales figures are unknown.
This is what drove complaints to ICSTIS, the Independent
Committee for the Supervision of Standards of Telephone Information
Services. It has received over 100 complaints from people who
thought they had bought the ringtone at a price of £3, only to find
that they had also unwittingly signed up for a subscription service
costing £3 per week.
Some subscribers – many of them children – only discovered the
error when they received their phone bill.
Jamster's ringtone is sold through mobile service provider
MBlox. MBlox, according to reports, is now under investigation by
ICSTIS, for possible breach of the regulator’s Code of Practice.
Reuters quotes an ICSITS spokesman who said: "If it's a
subscription service, that has to be made perfectly clear."
ICSTIS has the power to fine companies and bar access to
services if the Code is breached. It can also bar the individuals
behind a company from running any other premium rate services under
any company name on any telephone network for a defined period.
Increased fines for rogue diallers
Separately, ICSTIS and E-Commerce Minister Alun Michael
announced yesterday that fines against firms that use premium rate
numbers to connect unwitting computer users to the internet could
rise from £100,000 to £250,000.
The move is in response to a surge of concern from consumers
over rogue diallers – software that installs a premium rate number
as the default dial-up number on a victim's computer without his
knowledge, resulting in an unexpectedly expensive call every time
the computer connects to the internet.
At present, such services could make significantly more money
than the current maximum fine of £100,000.
"We all have the right to use the internet without the fear of
being exploited by firms who prey on consumers,” said Mr Michael.
“Customers have unwittingly run up hefty phone bills when their
automatic dial ups get locked in to a premium rate number.”
The Government is consulting on the issue, and comments are
required by 20th September.
