The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has cleared Betfair of encouraging young men to gamble after an ad for Betfair Exchange received complaints.
About The Ad
The ad in question was aired on 11th November 2018 and featured a well-dressed young man walking down the street looking at his phone. He entered door, which led in to a big room with a large screen with horse racing.The ad went on to say, “ My gut says that horse is something special an my ‘smarts’ say to back it on Betfair Exchange where I get bigger returns than if I bet with one of these other bookies. That’s why I go to Betfair. Betfair, where gut instinct meets Smart.”A complaint was made about the ad, accusing Betfair of exploiting young men’s susceptibilities. The authority body has decided that this was not the case and there were no breach in advertising from Betfair.
Offering Better Odds
Betfair commented on the complaint, saying the advertisement was explaining the operator could offer players better odds than other bookmakers and the man in the advert placed no bets, the advert did not depict the man had any priority to gamble at any point.Clearcast commented that it was obvious the character in the ad was over 25, and was “ portrayed as one of many unremarkable people in a fantastical location designed to be a metaphor for the ‘community’ of customers using the app.” The actor in question was 27 years old and was not portrayed as a youthful man, he was not wearing clothes associated with youth culture. He wore smart trousers and a jumper and was also unshaven with a mature demeanour.It was made clear by Betfair, the ad did not in any way exploit under 18’s, only educating it’s customers to a range of odds available.The ASA ruled the ad was in no way breaching the advertising code and the character was deemed aspirational, referring to his ‘Smarts’. The ad was depicted responsibly.