Atrix Ad Banned for ''Most Powerful Smartphone'' Claim

The ASA has banned a TV advertisement for the Motorola Atrix over the company's claims that it was the world's most powerful smartphone.

When we first clapped eyes on the Motorola Atrix (and caught wind of its specs), it was immediately added to the list of dual-core smartphones the industry had started to refer to as 'superphones.' However, it seems Motorola has gotten a wee bit ahead of itself when it comes to the power of the Atrix. The Advertising Standards Authority has banned an Atrix ad over claims that it was the 'world's most powerful smartphone' when in fact the title is possessed by another device.

The ASA insists that Samsung's Galaxy S II, with it's 1.2GHz CPU, is more powerful than the Motorola Atrix, which packs 1GHz of processing power. Motorola tried to argue that Atrix's longer battery life, combined with the fact that its dock could turn the phone into a full-on laptop, meant it was a more powerful device. However, the ASA believes that viewers would hear the words "world's most powerful smartphone" along with a visual close up of the Atrix and naturally assume the ad meant the phone by itself. 

"[...] However, while we acknowledged the ad showed the phone being used with other associated accessories, we considered viewers would understand the claim "The world's most powerful smartphone", along with a close-up of the phone, to mean the phone, in isolation, was the most powerful smartphone," the ASA said in its ruling. 

The ASA's ruling means Motorla must not claim the Atrix is "The world's most powerful smartphone" again.