Oct 31, 2017 New gambling ad guidance to target affiliates and promotions The ASA is set to publish new guidance on how betting brands use affiliate marketing and promotional offers before the end of the year, as well as addressing problem gambling in 2018, as the government unveils its response to a year-long review of the industry. Oct 31, 2017 The ASA says the development of new guidance “runs in tandem with and complements the Gambling Review rather than being prompted by it”, and its response to the DCMS consultation stated any government intervention in advertising regulation would “be disproportionate and would have no significant impact on harm”.

• Asa Guidance Gambling Advertising Companies
• Asa Guidance Gambling Advertising Websites

August 23, 2017

At the start of June, the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) issued guidance on how internet-based targeting can be used to help reduce children’s exposure to age-restricted ads online (read our comment on this here). This was the latest instalment of guidance aimed at helping advertisers, particularly those marketing age-restricted products such as gambling, to place advertisements appropriately.

Directing advertising to those over the age restriction (over 18s in the case of gambling advertising) can be achieved using various methods, CAP said. Both audience composition of the media and the content around which the marketing communication appears must be considered.

To assess audience composition, CAP suggested that marketers examined the media in advance of the age-restricted ad being placed, to evaluate whether such ads were being placed:

• in or around media that are obviously directed at the protected age category; and
• in other media where the protected age category makes up more than 25% of the audience.

If media was of more “general appeal” then it would be the responsibility of the marketer to demonstrate that the relevant age category comprised 25% or less of the total audience.

Whilst this guidance was aimed at non-broadcast media, we have today seen the ASA publish an adjudication using this methodology in respect of a gambling ad aired on the radio.

X Factor Games

Two radio ads for The X Factor Games were aired at breakfast time on two separate radio stations; one was Wave 105 and the other Absolute 80s. The ad was repeated on Wave 105 during the afternoon at around 3pm. The ad contained the theme tune of the X Factor TV show and the voice-over commonly associated with the programme. Several complainants challenged whether:

1. the ads were irresponsible because they were likely to appeal particularly to under 18s; and
2. the ads had been scheduled appropriately, as children might be listening.

A data driven response

In assessing whether the Rule 17.4.5 of the BCAP Code had been breached (i.e. whether the ad was likely to be of particular appeal to under-18s, especially by reflecting or being associated with youth culture), the ASA examined official BARB data to see whether the fact that the ads in question referenced the X Factor TV show meant that the ads appealed more strongly to under-18s than they did to over-18s.

Findings

• Although the ads were for the online casino and slots website, the X Factor Games, the fact that they featured the theme tune and voice-over from the X Factor TV show led the ASA to conclude that listeners would associate the ads with the TV show.
• Whilst BARB data showed that many under-18s watched the TV show, the TV show was, however, never of proportionately greater appeal to under-18s than it was to the viewing population as a whole. The ASA concluded that references to the X Factor in a gambling ad per se, were unlikely to breach the BCAP Code.
• In consideration of the specific elements taken from the TV show in the two ads, the theme tune and voice-over, the ASA decided that these were generic features no more likely to appeal more strongly to under-18s than they would to over-18s given the TV BARB data. Further, the ASA observed that the ads didn’t contain other content, such as specific X Factor artists or songs, which were likely to appeal more strongly to under-18s.

Scheduling issues also quashed by data

When deciding whether the ads were in breach of BCAP Rule 32.2.2 (i.e. whether this was an ad for gambling that had been inappropriately scheduled as it was in or adjacent to programmes commissioned for, or principally directed at, children), the ASA looked to the RAJAR data for the two radio stations. This indicated that over 18s made up 89% of listeners to Wave 105 between 6am and 10am, 86% of listeners to the station between 3pm and 7pm and 96% of listeners to Absolute 80s. This meant that only a small proportion of listeners to the programming in which the ads appeared were under 18. Further, having examined the programming content of both radio stations (one 80s music and the other generally presenter-led news and entertainment), the ASA considered that neither station was likely to be of particular appeal to under 18s, therefore, there was no inappropriate scheduling and no breach of this BCAP Rule.

A lesson for other media

The investigation of this ad by the ASA only goes to strengthen the requirement for advertisers (and the publishers they use) to have data which substantiates who the audiences are that receive their advertising. This case demonstrates well the need for gambling advertisers to have accurate audience data for the channels in which the age-restricted advertising is included, especially when the media used is of more general appeal, and regardless of whether the ad itself is of particular appeal to under 18s.

Another week, another upheld ASA ruling against a gambling ad.

The ASA hasn't been publishing many rulings of late, but gambling ads make up a significant proportion of those that have been published. A sign that the ASA is not as willing to resolve these informally as it might other types of ads.

Wider context

The wider context is that UK gambling laws are set to be reviewed and tightened, and the gambling industry (and CAP) is determined to get its house in order ahead of that review.

For example, the UK's Betting and Gaming Council (BGC), which represents the regulated betting industry (excluding the National Lottery), had already identified the problem of online gambling ads that might appeal to under 18s or might be seen by under 18s and launched its own crackdown. It published its Sixth Industry Code for Socially Responsible Advertising, which contains stricter rules to rein in ads which could appeal to or could target under 18s. The BGC's new rules came into effect on 1 October 2020.

Last week, on 22 October 2020, CAP started its own consultation, which is likely to result in a tightening of the CAP Code rules around gambling ads in a bid to further prevent them reaching or having appeal to under 18s.

The updates to the CAP Code are not due to be implemented until next 2021. Nevertheless, the CAP Code already prohibits ads from targeting or having particular appeal to 18s. This week's ASA ruling is on that very topic. It involves an ad from August 2020, well before any new rules or guidance from the BGC came into effect.

ASA ruling against Gala Spins

Details

A paid-for Facebook post by LC International Ltd t/a Gala Spins, seen on 12 August 2020, included a caption which stated “IT’S A ROLLERCOASTER OF CUTENESS!”. The post included a video which began with a voice-over that stated “What’s your spin?”. The video included text that stated “GALA Spins” and “What’s your spin?” following which the video showed text which stated “Fluffy Favourites” and five toy animals.

Complaint

One person complained that the content of the ad was likely to be of particular appeal to children.

The ASA investigated whether the ad breached the following rules:

16.1Marketing communications for gambling must be socially responsible, with particular regard to the need to protect children, young persons and other vulnerable persons from being harmed or exploited.

16.3.12Marketing communications must not be likely to be of particular appeal to children or young persons, especially by reflecting or being associated with youth culture

Response

Asa Guidance Gambling Advertising Companies

Gala Spins said the ad was posted on their Facebook account which was age-gated to those who were over 18 years old, so that age restriction would prevent those who were underage from viewing and accessing the Gala Spins page.

Gala Spins said they posted the video featuring stuffed animals in error and that it was an out-of-date video. They said that the stuffed toys featured in the eight-second video appeared between seconds four and six; viewers would have had to press play for the video to run. They said the video was part of a multi-channel campaign targeting females in the UK aged between 18 and 65 with an interest in gambling and online gaming.

They provided analytics of the campaign which they said showed that none of those who saw the ad were under 18 years old and all were women.

They said the ad had since been taken down on all channels.

Ruling

Upheld: The ASA held that the ad was in breach of both of the above rules

Gala Spins had taken steps to target the ad only at those between 18 and 65 years of age but that targeting was based on an audience which had self-reported their age, on a platform which under-18s were generally free to use. The steps taken could not ensure that under-18s who falsely reported their age were not exposed to the ad.

Separately, gambling ads must not appeal more strongly to under-18s than they did to over-18s. The ASA considered that the cartoon-like imagery of five stuffed toy animals was likely to appeal to under-18s. The ASA also considered the game’s name “Fluffy Favourites”, and the ad’s caption “IT’S A ROLLERCOASTER OF CUTENESS!”, were likely to strengthen that appeal. They concluded that those factors combined to give the ad a child-like theme, and that the ad was likely to be of particular appeal to under-18s. The ASA therefore found that the ad was irresponsible and breached the Code.

Asa Guidance Gambling Advertising Websites

The ad must not appear again in its current form. We told LC International Ltd t/a Gala Spins to ensure in future that their ads for gambling products did not appeal particularly to under 18s.