The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has been in the news a lot recently in the world of gambling with many operators being penalised for adverts that were seen as unethical in some way.However, it isn’t all bad news for operators, as the ASA has ruled against complaints against both 32Red and LeoVegas.
LeoVegas
The compliant raised against LeoVegas was in regard to a commercial for their 21.co.uk brand, that was seen to portray “gambling in a context of toughness”.The advertisement saw a man in a suit playing at a blackjack table, while a heartbeat sound effect could be heard under the voiceover.In response, LeoVegas claimed that “the ad was produced to address the concerns raised in a previous upheld ruling on the same issue” with several previously highlighted issues being removed from the ad in its current form.The operator also added that no attributes that indicated toughness, mental or physical, were used.The ASA ruling agreed, saying “the ad did not portray gambling in a context of toughness and did not breach the code.”
32Red
The complaint against 32Red focused on a television advert for the slot game Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway.A complainant suggested the ad was irresponsible, as the name of the slot and the use of both hosts as voiceovers on the advert tied the show and the game together, and therefore could appeal to those under 18.32Red countered saying that the viewing audience of the show had a huge demographic, and Ant and Dec as celebrities were not attached in any way to youth culture.The ASA agreed with 32Red and the complaint was not upheld, in both cases, the ASA deemed no further action to be necessary in response to the complaints.