UK Ad WatchDog Kept Busy


ONLINE GAMBLING FIRMS KEEP UK AD WATCHDOG BUSY

Common thread seems to be the omission of significant terms and conditions in the main body of the ads.

TitanBet was taken to task for an email promo that a single complainant challenged as misleading.  The UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) upheld the complaint and reminded the firm to ensure significant terms and conditions were prominently relayed to customers within the promotional material.

BGO Entertainment Ltd also found its latest TV and Instagram ads, which feature a brash casino boss seemingly living the Jetset lifestyle, under scrutiny after two complaints.  The ASA upheld one aspect of the ad in which it deemed the ad suggested that gambling could be a way to achieve financial security.  The other two aspects which comprised appealing to under 18’s and gambling linked to alcohol and sex were dismissed. 

Last but not least, a Coral Interactive newspaper ad garnered two complaints which the ASA upheld.

The ad offered generous odds for a limited period of time to new customers on a match between England and Russia.  The ad which read: “ENGLAND TO BEAT RUSSIA WAS 10/11 NOW 50/1”. “Max Bet £1 … PLUS a £5 Free Bet should your bet lose WINNINGS PAID IN CASH I Available from 8am. Get it while it lasts” should have displayed the tight time-frame of one hour from 8am more prominently, the ASA ruled, given the significance of the condition. 

A further complaint said the ad failed to adequately advertise that winnings based on the enhanced odds were not paid in cash but as free bets.  Coral Interactive acknowledged that there had been an error in the small print and that the winnings were in fact paid in cash.