UK warns 'Cool in 90 seconds' portable air conditioners are a scam
This is just another example of our risible two tier advertising regulations. Hard checks for TV, radio, print newspapers yet slop, shite and scams rife online... Cool in 90: the fake portable air conditioners sweeping the Internet www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
James D. Worth4We are having cheap, non-functioning tat dumped on us through scam advertising online. Regulate online platforms as publishers, or regulate the advertisers. Preferably both!
Gus Beare3Yup, FB and Insta are flooded with scams like this. It's just diabolical. Seems that all you need to get a scam on those platforms is to pay the fee. There is ZERO due diligence. Criminal.
ByteSignal3The asymmetry exists because TV/radio have gatekeepers who face liability. Online platforms profit from the ad spend and bear almost none of the legal risk. That's the fix needed.
Patrick3Don’t buy anything from a social media platform unless you’re ok with being ripped off.
David Thompson2In pretty much every way, social media is a barely regulated swamp. Facebook, for example, is awash with fake products & fake AI generated stores, reselling shoddy goods from AliExpress whilst pretending to be established stores closing down with heavy hearts. They need to be properly regulated.
‘Scientists at NASA have invented a way to completely ignore the rules of thermodynamics…’ You’d have to be pretty thick to believe some of these adverts but there’s a more serious side to it. Who’s paying for the adds and what do they do with the personal data of the people they’ve duped!?
I've seen a lot of these ads myself. Many look very naff and AI-generated. We are living in the age of the digital scam, sadly. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Andrew Sissons2My kids get served these constantly. The one for the “pressure washer that is so powerful it’s being banned”, which can also apparently slice logs of wood in half, is especially terrifying…
Steve Fawkes1Yes - and interesting how the power of (mythical) ‘NASA engineers’ lives on as a sales line.
WillP1"the ASA says..." Shouldn't the ASA do less saying, and more doing? Most of the internet and media ecosystem is funded by selling advertising. If the public learn not to believe online ads, whole industries are at risk. Vital that this stuff is kept regulated and trustworthy.
Right I'm getting a portable AC when I can, I can't keep doing this year on year
Dr Niall 🏳️⚧️🏳️🌈2Fancy a trip to the EU to buy a split unit one?
Alex1This is such a good purchase, even if you then have to think about lugging it around when you move house. The next best summer purchase for me was some cheap netting to go over the windows so you can sleep with them open and not be joined in bed by the entire cast of A Bugs Life
