TV and radio advertisements from SmartEnergyGB that claimed smart meters would help users save energy are not misleading, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has decided.
The advertisements said smart meters were “…helping you save on your bills too” and “…her smart meter is doing something extraordinary … helping her save money too”. Complainants sai that was misleading, because smart meters in and of themselves did not save consumers money. But the ASA decided that consumers would understand the ad to mean that, through the use of smart meters, they could reduce their energy consumption, and reduce their spending on household energy bills as a result.
The ASA said the view of a smart meter display contributed to the impression that consumers could monitor their energy usage, and consumers would likely understand the use of the word “helping” in the ads to mean that smart meters could “assist”. They would understand the meters did not actively reduce household energy consumption in and of themselves. It concluded that the claims were not misleading.
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