ASA RULES – BETFAIR TO WITHDRAW TV AD IN ITS CURRENT FORM

Posted 2/9/11 : Advert not acceptable in its current form and deemed as misleading
 
Betting exchange Betfair has been instructed by the British Advertising Standards Authority (ASA ) to stop airing its latest TV campaign in its current form after receiving twenty-three complaints from the public.
 
The advertisement shows two men in a pub discussing a sports match while a third man pushes between them and begins to act as a go-between, passing comments back and forth between the two.  A voice-over then says "On Betfair you cut out the middle man, which means you win bigger".
 
All 23 viewers challenged whether the suggestion in the advert that Betfair operated without a middleman was incorrect and misleading and others felt it misleading because it failed to clarify that Betfair took commission on winning bets.
 
The ASA ruled that the ad breached CAP (Broadcast) TV Advertising Standards Code rules 5.1.1 and 5.1.2 (Misleading advertising) and ordered that the ad should not be broadcast again in its current form.