Xbox 360 advert banned by ASA for code of conduct breech

A British Xbox 360 ad has been banned by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) for not clarifying the fact that downloaded Live movies could only be kept for 14 days.

According to the ASA, the small print failed to mention that anyone who used the download service must own the Xbox 360 with hard drive, which runs £169.99, and that the movies expire after 14 days, or 24 hours after the film's started.

"Because the ad focused on the Xbox 360 download function and new users could be influenced to purchase on the basis of being able to download and keep movies, we considered that the time limitation to play downloaded movies and the fact that they were being rented rather than bought were significant conditions that should have been clarified in the ad," the body said in its judgment.

The ad was brought to the ASA's attention when a consumer filed a complaint, which Microsoft claimed was unreasonable because they were "not viable to explain all the features of its Xbox movie download service in a short TV advert".