Cleared, TV ad that made Amazon Echo order cat food

IT’S the gadget that lets you buy items online just by talking to it.

But one Amazon Echo customer has complained after the gadget placed an order for cat food without their knowledge – when it mistook a TV advert for its owner’s voice. They cancelled the order, but contacted advertising watchdogs about the ‘ socially irresponsible’ promotion.

Broadcast on October 5, the advert showed a man asking the Echo’s robot assistant, Alexa, to order Purina cat food. The Echo speaker records and analyses its owner’s voice so that it can answer questions or fulfil requests, including ordering groceries or playing music. The speaker costs £75, or £40 for the smaller Dot version, pictured above.

An Amazon spokesman said its adverts were digitally marked to prevent them triggering real Echo devices and, if that failed, customers must still confirm orders. If they do not, the order is cancelled.

The Advertising Standards Authority ruled yesterday that Amazon had not breached its code. It declared that although the complainant cancelled the order themselves, ‘we understood that had they not done so, the order would have been cancelled automatically’.