Telco pioneer gagged

By Deborah Hill Cone

Friday 6th December 2002

Feisty entrepreneur Annette Presley was fuming yesterday after television censors told her she had to cut the words "big ugly giant" from her ad because it was too aggressive.

Ms Presley, famous for taking on Telecom in court when they cut off her internet service provider i4free, wanted to use the words in a television commercial for her latest venture, pay ISP Slingshot.

But the Television Commercials Approvals Board told her the ad breached the code covering comparative advertising; it bans ads which denigrate competitors.

The TVCAB, which is owned by the television networks and vets ads on their behalf, said the ad was too aggressive.

"What happened to freedom of speech?" Ms Presley said.

She got an opinion from media law specialists at KPMG Legal which said it was arguable whether the ad should be considered under the comparative code in the first place, given it was not comparing Slingshot's product with any other and the "big, ugly giant" was not even identified.

The Slingshot ad's script was modified to read: "Hi, a while ago I bought you i4free but then it was stomped on."

TVCAB general manager Richard Prosser said an independent advertising opinion backed up its position. Advertising Standards Authority head Glenn Wiggs said there was a growing feeling that some of the codes governing advertising needed to be reviewed and possibly relaxed.

Meanwhile, i4free is pushing ahead with its $18 million High Court claim against Telecom. The free ISP is claiming loss of profits when Telecom introduced the 0867 internet prefix, delaying the launch of i4free.

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