Standards authority clears utility

A company that was accused of misleading customers has been cleared by the advertising watchdog.

It was claimed SSE was sending out marketing leaflets disguised as cards informing customers that they had missed a visit by its staff.

Three people complained to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), which ruled the company did not break any rules.

The leaflets stated: “Good news, you’ll never miss us again” and stated that if the customer upgraded to a free smart meter their readings would be taken automatically.

The complainants challenged whether the ad was obviously identifiable as marketing.

SSE said that they did not dispute that the recipient may be required to briefly scan the leaflet in order to identify it as marketing, but they believed the claims were prominently displayed and light-hearted.

They believed the differences between the two cards meant they could be easily distinguished to avoid confusion.

In rejecting the case the ASA said: “We considered that there had been general information on smart meter upgrades in the public domain and that many consumers would have some awareness of the nationwide rollout of smart meters.

“We noted that the mailing was likely not the first communication consumers had received on smart meters, albeit, we accepted not in the same format.”