ASA ruling against network provider

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has ruled that network provider, Vodafone Ltd, was misleading in its advertising in July 2025.

Vodafone ran several advertisements in which the network was referred to as, “The Nation’s Network”. There were six advertisements in total:

1. A TV advertisement, where on-screen text stated, “The Nation’s Network: Vodafone UK, supporting the nation since 1984 and has 99% of the UK population coverage. Verification: Vodafone.co.uk/network”.
2. A paid-for YouTube ad, with the on-screen text stating, “Connecting friends this summer on Vodafone. The Nation’s Network.” and “The Nation’s Network. Est. 1984. Switch to Vodafone”.
3. A paid-for Meta ad, with a moving graphic at the centre of the screen stating, “POV: Enjoying Glastonbury on the Nation’s Network”. Small on-screen text later stated “The Nation’s Network: Vodafone UK is [sic] nation’s most valuable UK telecoms provider & most valuable UK brand overall verified by Kantar BrandZ Most Valuable UK Brands Report 2024 and support the nation since 1984 through to 2025’s major summer events & beyond. Verification of claims: Vodafone.co.uk/network”.
4. A paid-for Meta ad, where one actor says to another “Are you ready to phone a friend on the Nation’s Network?” and on-screen text stated, “The Nation’s Network Est. 1984 Vodafone a friend” and “The Nation’s Network: Vodafone UK, supporting the nation since 1984: Vodafone.co.uk/network”.
5. A poster, on on the side of a bus featured headline text stating “This is London’s Best Network”. Smaller text in the ad stated, “The Nation’s Network, supporting you since 1984”. Small print directly underneath that stated “Nation’s Network: Vodafone UK is [sic] nation’s most valuable UK telecoms provider & most valuable brand overall, verified by Kantar BrandZ Most Valuable UK Brands Report 2024 and supports the nation since 1984 through to 2024’s major summer events & beyond […]”
6. A poster at a bus stop with text at the bottom of the poster that stated, “The Nation’s Network, supporting you since 1984” and small print underneath that text stated “The Nation’s Network: Vodafone – nation’s most valuable brand, verified by Kantar BrandZ Most Valuable UK Brands Report 2024, and supporting the nation since 1984 through to 2025’s major summer events. See full verification of the substantiation: Vodafone.co.uk/network […]”.

In their response, Vodafone said that the claim “The Nation’s Network” was not an implied comparative superiority claim but was instead a corporate positioning statement or strapline. This is as it was placed alongside heritage qualifiers and reflected their heritage. They claimed the reference to a 2024 Most Valuable Brands in the UK Report published by a third-party market research company reinforced the claim and Vodafone’s connection with the British public, alongside their sponsorship of major British events. Finally, Vodafone referred to a previous ASA ruling relating to an earlier TV ad using the claim “The Nation’s Network” which had supported that interpretation and had not been found to imply superiority against competitors or to be misleading as it was a heritage-based message.

ASA upheld the complaint against all six advertisements, as the creative content of the advertisements differed to that of the previous ruling, with the previous ad showing the use of mobile phones from different eras. ASA felt that the content of the advertisements was subjective and did not include a clear contextual basis for the claim “The Nation’s Network”, allowing for customers to establish differing interpretations of the claim and subsequently being misled.