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The encyclopedia · Advertising & PR · Marketing decision · 2022

Movistar Colombia sold 'IlimiDatos' — the SIC said the pun hid a limit

Aug 2022: SIC fined Movistar Colombia COP 1,507M — the 'IlimiDatos' campaign said share data with anyone; the Pasa Gigas service worked postpaid-only.

Movistar Colombia · 2022-08

What happened

Movistar Colombia promoted 'IlimiDatos – Pasa Gigas Pide y Comparte tus datos con quien quieras': plans priced between roughly $63,868 and $99,990 pesos that suggested subscribers could share their data with any line — postpaid or prepaid. The pun did the selling: IlimiDatos read as ilimitado. Colombia's SIC then checked what sharing was actually on offer.

The finding: the 'Pasa Gigas' sharing service only worked between postpaid users, so the advertised benefit did not exist for prepaid lines — the majority of the market the ad invited. The SIC fined Colombia Telecomunicaciones $1,507,000,000 pesos for misleading advertising, and added a second finding: users who felt deceived and tried to leave hit obstructed contract terminations — requests mishandled, delayed, or met with requirements that were not regulated.

The decision, announced on 23 August 2022, was open to appeals of reposición and apelación. For telecom advertising in Colombia it joined the Claro rulings as a standing rule: 'share with anyone' and 'unlimited' are objective claims, and the product must deliver them — including the exit door for anyone misled.

Why it happened

  • The campaign's name was the promise: 'IlimiDatos' read as unlimited, and 'share with anyone' made the scope feel total.
  • The real Pasa Gigas worked postpaid-to-postpaid only; the gap between the claim and the product was what made it misleading.
  • The SIC punished what followed the deception too: users who tried to leave over the misleading offer found their termination requests obstructed.
What it costCOP 1,507M fine (appealable)costly

The lesson

A pun cannot carry a promise it does not keep: if the ad says 'share with anyone', the service must actually let them. Regulators measure the claim against the product — and the exit door too.

Aftermath

The sanction was open to appeal. The case sits alongside Claro's 'unlimited' fines as part of Colombia's telecom-advertising jurisprudence: superlative-sounding claims must match the service offered, and users misled by an offer must be able to cancel without obstacles.

Sources

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