Dyson Appeal “Misleading” Air Purifier Ad

Dyson is appealing a decision by the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority to ban a TV ad that gave the “misleading impression” the company’s air purifiers were cordless.

The ASA ruled the April 2019 ad for Dyson’s Pure Hot + Cool Fan showed the fan from several angles but hid or obscured the cord or electrical outlets from view.

Dyson challenged the ruling claiming it had showed the cord, but the ASA said the ad disguised the cord by trying to make it blend in with the floor and furniture of the room it was shown in.

The company said if they had been trying to market a cordless version of its air purifying fans it would have made the cordless feature a key focus of the ad.

Clearcast, an organisation owned by UK commercial broadcasters that pre-approves most television advertising, supported Dyson’s claim and made the argument that other products that are designed to spend most of their time in one place, such as televisions, didn’t “routinely establish cables” in their advertising.

Images on the Dyson website for the product in question do not obviously depict the product as requiring mains power, and in one instance compares it to three other products, all with their cords prominently showing.

The ASA ruled the ad can’t be shown again and told Dyson “not to imply that their fans were cordless if that was not the case”.

A Dyson spokeswoman told Bloomberg the company will appeal the ruling.

The ruling comes weeks after two former Dyson engineers revealed their own cordless vacuum designed to challenge their previous company’s popular handsticks.

Pablo Montero and Lucas Horne claim their Lupe Pure Cordless vacuum is twice as powerful as Dyson’s V11 Absolute.

The pair managed to raise more than one million AUD through a crowdfunding campaign for the vacuum, which is expected to sell for a much cheaper price than the Dyson.

The Lupe Pure Cordless is expected to ship in December this year.