Who: The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) and Lindar Media Ltd t/a MrQ.com
Where: United Kingdom
When: 20 March 2024
Law stated as at: 17 April 2024
What happened:
A social media post for gaming website MrQ.com featured text that said “[Santa emoji] Deposit £20 and get 75 Free Spins [Present emoji]”. An image below the text featured a cartoon Santa driving a snow plough underneath the “BIG BASS Christmas BASH” game logo. A second image featured the same cartoon Santa driving a vehicle next to an elf holding a Bazooka.
A complainant believed the emojis and cartoon images of Santa and the elf would likely appeal strongly to children and challenged whether the ad beached the UK Code of Non-broadcast Advertising and Direct & Promotional Marketing (CAP Code).
The advertiser responded by saying that while the imagery in the ad could be seen as ”likely to appeal strongly to children”, they specifically targeted the ad at people aged over 25 years. The advertiser applied targeting on the social media platform so that the ad was kept away from children and it believed it acted in a socially responsible way.
The ASA upheld the complaint, having considered that Christmas, the traditions surrounding it and the Christmas elf character were likely to have strong appeal to children. It was also indicated that MrQ.com had not excluded under 18s from the audience with the highest level of accuracy required for gambling ads where their content was likely to appeal strongly to under 18s.
The ad breached the CAP Code rules around gambling and the ASA noted that the ad must not appear in the form complained of again.
Why this matters:
The differing fortunes of the gambling advertisers highlighted some of the considerations the ASA will take when determining whether an ad appeals strongly to children. The Lucky Cow Bingo decision indicated that gambling ads which include cute and/or cartoon-like animations, which are overly colourful or resemble characters from children’s stories are more likely to fall short of the ASA’s requirements.
