The UK's advertising watchdog, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), has reprimanded airline British Midlands International (BMI) and broadband provider Virgin Media for making “misleading” ads.

BMI’s low cost airline Bmibaby was reprimanded for running a promotional ad campaign that calimed, “Up to 40 per cent off all flights!”

The ASA ruled that the offer was misleading as the cutback applied merely to the value of the fare and didn’t include airport taxes and charges. The advertising watchdog added that the ad would make a consumer assume that there was a 40 per cent concession off the total cost of flight.

However, Bmibaby defended itself by arguing that it had provided the details of the offer in the terms & conditions.

The ASA also upheld complaints filed by BT, XILO and some consumers against Virgin Media. ASA ruled that Virgin Media cable service was not as speedy as it claimed, and ordered the company to use those ads again in their current form.

Last month, the ASA ordered Virgin to put an end to its “Stop the Broadband con” promotion, ruling that the promotion was “denigratory” to other internet service providers.