Amazon TV advert triggers cat food order

A TELEVISION advert for Amazon’s Echo Dot smart speaker activated a viewer’s device and placed an order for cat food.

The advert, seen on Oct 5, demonstrated people using the device in various situations and included a man’s voice saying: “Alexa, reorder Purina cat food.”

Amazon’s virtual assistant Alexa then replied: “I’ve found Purina cat food. Would you like to buy it?”

The viewer, who said their Echo Dot ordered cat food after the ad played, complained to the advertising regulator that the advert was socially irresponsible.

Amazon said they “marked” ads to prevent them from triggering responses from devices in homes, and customers were also asked to confirm a purchase or it would be automatically cancelled.

However, Amazon confirmed that the complainant’s device did order Purina cat food on the day the ad was seen, which the customer immediately cancelled.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) acknowledged that Amazon had taken steps to prevent its adverts interacting with devices that might “overhear” them, and customers needed to actively confirm purchases.

The ASA said: “In this instance, the complainant had cancelled the order themselves, but we understood that had they not done so, the order would none the less have been cancelled automatically.

“Therefore we understood that it would not be possible for a purchase to be made without the account owner’s knowledge, even in instances where technology, intended to stop ads interacting with devices, had not been effective.

“We concluded that the ad was not socially irresponsible and did not breach the code.”

This was the first case that the ASA had looked into regarding a complaint about such technology prompting unwanted purchases.