Five years ago, if you didn’t have an iPod you were nothing.  Now, Apple has created a new tech drug in the iPhone that has sent the world insane. 

What sort of advertising do you need for a product like this? Well not a TV ad that claims unrestricted access to all of the net.

In the UK, Apples iPhone ad has been banned after the local watchdog ruled that it misled buyers over net access.

The news from Brand Republic is that Apple claims in the commercial that the phone allows owners access to all parts of the internet.

It attracted complaints from viewers who said the ad was misleading because the phone doesn’t support Flash or Java software, integral to many web sites.

In the commercial, which was created by TBWALondon, someones hand is shown using the iPhone, navigating through a series of pages and during the ad a voiceover says: “All the parts of the internet are on the iPhone.”

Apple has defended the ad saying it was designed to highlight the benefits of the iPhone in being able to offer availability to all internet websites, in contrast to other handsets, which could only access WAP versions or sites selected by service providers.

The California-based firm said the Apple Safari web browser was built to open internet standards, but because Flash and Java are propriety software, they were not open source and require plug-ins or individual downloads.

The UK Advertising Standards Authority told Apple it cannot broadcast the ad again in its current form.

It’s not the first setback for Apples ambitions to dominate the lucrative mobile phone market (and possibly the world). It faces competition from Blackberry and the soon to be launched Android from Google.