UK advertising regulator the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) yesterday banned two ads by online gambling operators.
Mirror Casino’s use of Transformers comic book character Optimus Prime in a Daily Mirror print ad was ruled to have breached ASA rules on marketing communications for gambling products, after the regulator agreed with a complainant that this was likely to appeal to children.
Trinity Mirror defended itself by highlighting this was only one of three images used, the ad appeared in the adult-oriented Money section, and that anyone wanting to bet on the Cashcade-run online casino skin would first need to prove they were aged 18 upwards.
The media conglomerate had already however already agreed not to re-use the image in this way again once it became aware of the complaint, ahead of the ASA today ruling that that the ad was likely to be of appeal to under 18s and therefore breached its rules on advertising gambling products, and must not appear again its current form.
A TV ad for BetVictor, previously known under the name of eponymous founder and owner Victor Chandler, also felt the wrath of the ASA for its claim it gave the best prices most often in the Premier League last season, which contained text crediting odds comparison website Oddschecker.com as the source for the claim.
While Oddschecker re-checked its data and verified BetVictor’s claim it did indeed offer the best prices most often, the ASA still ruled the ad to be misleading because did not make clear BetVictor’s claim related to the match result market only.
Thus while BetVictor’s website did include this information, the ASA decided this should have been made clear within the ad itself, and concluded the ad breached its codes on misleading advertising and substantiation.
