The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has been upholding a fair few rulings in recent times, with a variety of gambling companies being called out for the perceived lack of social responsibility in the advertising campaigns.However, there are signs that this is changing, with two out of three recent ASA rulings seeing companies’ promotional material being validated as fair and responsible.https://youtu.be/68ndKVGUEHg
What happened?
The first brand to be cleared of any wrongdoing was Betfair, who saw a complaint raised against them after it was suggested that an actor appearing in an advert for the company appeared to be under the age of 25.Considering the ruling, the ASA agreed with Betfair themselves that the actor was not dressed in a style that suggested youth culture. The brand also provided evidence to prove that the actor was 27.SkillOnNet’s PlayOJO site was another that saw a complaint taken to the ASA, after an advert that showed an alpaca seemingly being miserable, before cheering up when it found PlayOJO.The complaint suggested that the advert suggested that gambling was a suitable cure for depression, while a frankly hilarious statement from PlayOJO said there was no evidence that the alpaca was depressed, or was in any financial difficulty.The ASA agreed that the advert merely showed the alpaca to be happy to have found a casino like PlayOJO.
Bad news for Gala
It hasn’t all been rosy for gambling firms though, with a complaint against Gala being upheld by the ASA.The advert, which advertised a Britain’s Got Talent game and showed a man spinning plates, suggested that players prove their ‘talent’ with the game.While Gala claim that the word talent was purely a reference to the popular show, ASA ruled that the advert suggested a level of skill to a game that is pure chance.