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Apple Sued over 'Misleading' Advertising in Siri Depictions

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Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
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The Wall Street Journal reports that Apple is the target of a new lawsuit from an iPhone 4S customer who claims that the company engaged in "misleading and deceptive" advertising in promoting its Siri personal assistant feature for the device. The plaintiff, Frank Fazio, alleges that Apple's depictions of Siri in its advertising suggest an ease of use that he claims is not present in real-world usage.
Fazio claims Siri is far less responsive in real life. When he asked for directions to a certain place, or to locate a store, "Siri either did not understand what Plaintiff was asking, or, after a very long wait time, responded with the wrong answer."
Click to expand...
The class action lawsuit seeks unspecified damages from Apple and a court order preventing Apple from engaging in any further misleading advertising related to the feature.

Apple has not responded publicly to the lawsuit, but the company has repeatedly noted on its website and elsewhere that Siri is a beta feature. While Apple rarely releases beta products to the public, it did so in the case of Siri in order to help build the library of voice input it needs to improve Siri's voice recognition capabilities. The beta label has also not stopped Apple from extensively promoting Siri, making it a key part of its iPhone 4S marketing from the iPhone 4S launch event to its website to its television advertising.

siri_beta_wish.png



Earlier this month, Apple and Vodafone won a case in the United Kingdom in which a member of the public complained that Apple's iPhone 4S advertising in the country was misleading for its depictions of location-based services that are only available in the United States at the present time. The Advertising Standards Authority ruled in Apple's favor when it determined that Apple's UK ads did not depict Siri integration with the Maps application (a U.S.-only feature for the time being) and that Siri's ability to access a user's local weather in the UK was sufficient to satisfy Apple's claims that it can use location information to provide personal assistance.

Article Link: Apple Sued over 'Misleading' Advertising in Siri Depictions
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2012/03/12/apple-sued-over-misleading-advertising-in-siri-depictions/
T

theheadguy

macrumors 65816
Apr 26, 2005
1,156
1,385
california
Will be interested to see how this works out. Apple does seem to be stretching it a bit with how great Siri is.

I won't say it's entirely useless, but I'll manually play the song, google the restaurant I'm looking for, etc., without waiting to see if Siri got it right.

photo.png
 
J

johnnyrb

macrumors regular
Jul 2, 2009
124
36
The person suing probably talks like the character "Barry Kripke" on "The Big Bang Theory". LOL
 
G

gatearray

macrumors 65816
Apr 24, 2010
1,130
232
I heard that this guy also sued McDonald's restaurant because his Big Mac didn't look like the picture. :)
 
A

ABernardoJr

macrumors 6502
Dec 19, 2006
364
0
"Misleading"? I don't think Apple has stated the product was flawless, especially since it's been noted that it's still in beta. It may appear that way in ads, but that's for obvious reasons. Is any company going to advertise their products' occasional flaws? For some reason I don't see this lawsuit getting very far.
 
soco

soco

macrumors 68030
Dec 14, 2009
2,840
119
Yardley, PA
It's unfortunate that the damages sought are unspecified.

It should be a rule of thumb that suits like this that are selfish rather than selfless (aiming to change something that's wrong with the industry, etc.) are likely to be lost.
 
SockRolid

SockRolid

macrumors 68000
Jan 5, 2010
1,560
118
Almost Rock Solid
The "deep pockets" effect

Funny how some people claim that they want "patent reform."
I say reform the court system to throw out nuisance suits like this one.
 
Menopause

Menopause

macrumors 6502a
Feb 26, 2011
663
1,807
It's called BETA for a reason for God's sake! Man I'm SICK of losers trying to leech money out of Apple at every small thing. Don't like it? Just shut up and return your phone and buy a Samsung crap that will understand what you're saying!
 
soco

soco

macrumors 68030
Dec 14, 2009
2,840
119
Yardley, PA
ABernardoJr said:
"Misleading"? I don't think Apple has stated the product was flawless, especially since it's been noted that it's still in beta. It may appear that way in ads, but that's for obvious reasons. Is any company going to advertise their products' occasional flaws? For some reason I don't see this lawsuit getting very far.
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You're ignoring the point of the suit. It's not a suit over whether or not states the product is in beta. It's a suit over the fact that if you don't go to the website or ask someone if it's in beta, you're led to believe, by the commercials, that it works as advertised. It does not.
 
garylapointe

garylapointe

macrumors 68000
Feb 19, 2006
1,886
1,245
Dearborn (Detroit), MI, USA
Search the web with Siri

My biggest Siri complaint is when she says, "I don't know that, would you like me to search the web for that?"

"Yes!!!!" of course I do, I want the answer to my question and you didn't know it, go find it! PLEASE!

Give me a checkbox to say "please always search the web for me".

Gary
 
Apple Key

Apple Key

macrumors 6502a
Jan 4, 2012
561
0
gatearray said:
I heard that this guy also sued McDonald's restaurant because his Big Mac didn't look like the picture. :)
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What was the problem? It wasn't big enough?

----------------------

This is completely ridiculous. That's like me suing Apple because my computer crashed. :rolleyes:
 
S

SeniorGato1

macrumors regular
Jun 28, 2010
219
11
Siri is a joke. I stopped using it about a week after getting the 4S as I found it easier to just use the touchpad. All the Siri commercials are a bit stretched as well.
 
J

JesseFogarty

macrumors newbie
Jan 14, 2012
19
0
Toronto, ON
What a baby

Are you serious this guys complaining over Siri taking a while..... How abou those of us with an iPhone 4S outside of the states that have no location services - that's worth complaining about. A little bit of lag is nothing to get panties in a knot about.

God damn. I cant get over this fool.
 
3N16MA

3N16MA

macrumors 65816
Jul 23, 2009
1,011
177
Space
If people sued every company because a product is not exactly as depicted in an advertisement then we would have lawsuits all over the place. Oh wait, that already happens.
 
A

AP_piano295

macrumors 65816
Mar 9, 2005
1,076
17
I mean it's pretty hard to argue, watch a Siri commercial try the commands seen in the commercial. Half the time they don't even work.

Of course what company doesn't lie with advertising?
 
S

samcraig

macrumors P6
Jun 22, 2009
16,779
41,982
USA
Regardless of the popular opinion this message board might hold - there's truth in the complain in so far as Siri does not work like it is depicted in the commercials. Not in responses nor in speed. Whether or not that warrants a settlement is another matter just like whether or not it warrants a disclaimer (better) or an adjustment in the advertising of the feature.
 
A

ABernardoJr

macrumors 6502
Dec 19, 2006
364
0
soco said:
You're ignoring the point of the suit. It's not a suit over whether or not states the product is in beta. It's a suit over the fact that if you don't go to the website or ask someone if it's in beta, you're led to believe, by the commercials, that it works as advertised. It does not.
Click to expand...

That wasn't my main point either, that was just a side note. My point is that the product isn't perfect, obviously, but Apple is expected to advertise that the product isn't perfect? And any company is expected to do the same? I'm pretty sure not every product works "as advertised" but that basis alone is not one sufficient for suing, and that's a problem with many over-litigious people nowadays.
 
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