UK ASA Ban Two Socially Irresponsible Gambling Advertisements
A lot of countries have taken the fight against socially irresponsible ads by operators and affiliates to a whole new level.
Recently, following complaints; the UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) banned the ads from Rank and Entain owned Coral because it was deemed to be socially irresponsible.
The flagged advertisement from Rank, which appeared within its Lucky Night mobile casino showed as follows;
“Everyone wants to solve theirs financial problems. Click the download button right now and start to earn,” the ad said. “In fact, it’s all very easy to do with our application. Pay off loans, buy a car and a nice house and make a lot of money!”
The above ad, ended with a text at the bottom which read “Welcome bonus £400”.
After investigations, ASA upheld the complaint regarding the ads, citing the fact that the use of words like “start to earn” and “make a lot of money” implied that by clicking the button on the app, the player can be provided with consistent income, and therefore financial security. Also, that the ad made an implication that the player could afford expensive items, such as houses and cars and make lots of money, through gambling.
ASA resolved that the Rank advert had breached rules 16.1, 16.3, 16.3.1 and 16.3.4 of the twelfth edition of the CAP Code.
On the other hand, Coral’s ad appeared on television during March 2022, and depicted a horse racing event; and the question “How long have you waited for those gates to crash open?” with audio-visual effects that replicate horse racing, including shaky camera shots, shouts from the crowd and hooves on the track.
ASA after concluded that the ad promoted socially irresponsible gambling behaviour in a number of ways, including how Coral branding was featured on the track, in the crowd, on the horses’ saddle cloths and in the voice over. Also that the question in the ad could have suggested that gambling occupies the mind of a bettor.
According to the body, its decision was also based on the consideration of the fact that the particular presentation of those elements of the ad, in combination with the voice over, carried a significant risk of replicating or recalling ‘highs’ associated with previous successful bets or betting in general, for viewers vulnerable to problem gambling,” the ASA said.
ASA resolved that both advertisements must not appear again.
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