Apple Sued over 'Misleading' Advertising in Siri Depictions

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.”

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
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.

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Top Rated Comments

cxny Avatar
178 months ago
"Siri is far less responsive in real life"

so is my wife
Score: 124 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Spanky Deluxe Avatar
178 months ago
Whatever happened to earning an honest living??
Score: 64 Votes (Like | Disagree)
gatearray Avatar
178 months ago
I heard that this guy also sued McDonald's restaurant because his Big Mac didn't look like the picture. :)
Score: 61 Votes (Like | Disagree)
SimonTheSoundMa Avatar
178 months ago
I think Apple call it "beta" for a reason. :rolleyes:
Score: 56 Votes (Like | Disagree)
johnnyrb Avatar
178 months ago
The person suing probably talks like the character "Barry Kripke" on "The Big Bang Theory". LOL
Score: 42 Votes (Like | Disagree)
garylapointe Avatar
178 months ago
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
Score: 32 Votes (Like | Disagree)