Who: The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) and LC International Ltd t/a Ladbrokes
Where: United Kingdom
When: 11 June 2025
Law stated as at: 30 June 2025
What happened:
On 17 December 2024, a TV advert for Ladbrokes was seen with a video promoting “LADBUCKS” as a new way to get rewarded at Ladbrokes. The concept behind Ladbucks was that users could collect them on Ladbrokes’ free to play games and choose rewards, like free spins and free bets. The video featured text such as “100m LADBUCKS”, “FREE BETS” and “FREE SPINS”.
It was challenged whether the ad breached the UK Code of Broadcast Advertising (BCAP Code) and the Code of Non-broadcast Advertising and Direct and Promotional Marketing (CAP Code) as it was likely that “Ladbucks” would have a strong appeal to those under the age of 18.
The BCAP and CAP Codes require ads to avoid creating a strong appeal to those under 18, especially by reflecting or being associated with youth culture. Since under 18s could not be entirely excluded from the audience, the ads needed to comply with this rule.
Ladbrokes put forward a variety of reasons as to why it felt that the advert did not create an appeal to children. These included:
- Accessibility: Ladbucks were only available in the Ladbucks store, which could only be accessed by logged-in, verified, over-18 consumers. It stated that tokens could not be purchased, had no monetary value and expired if not used.
- “Bucks”: the term “Ladbucks” was chosen as a play on the word “Ladbrokes” and was known as a colloquialism for dollars which had no origins in youth culture. Further, Ladbrokes argued that there were no associations with video game currencies, such as V-Bucks from Fortnite and Robux from Roblox, other than the word “bucks” which didn’t inherently appeal to children in itself.
- Poker chip: the visual referencing was a poker chip, which Ladbrokes argued shouldn’t have appeal to children given the adult nature of casino games, and there was nothing in the imagery or the content of the ads that appealed to under 18s or shared similarities with other children’s video games.
In the ASA’s assessment, it went back to the BCAP and CAP Codes which say that gambling ads must not appeal to under 18s. Further, BCAP and CAP guidance states that marketers should exercise particular caution when depicting product features similar to recognisable video games and online games popular among under 18s.
The ASA first assessed whether there were other online games that featured tokens depicted as coins on the market, and whether they were very popular with children and strongly associated with youth culture, before considering if features of those coins had noticeable parallels with a Ladbuck.
The ASA found that several online games popular with under 18s had their own in-game currencies, depicted as coins, for example V-Bucks and Robux, and spent within in-game stores. Further, 89% of children aged 11-18 gamed online weekly and many also interacted with gaming content on various social media and video platforms. The ASA therefore considered that a significant number of under 18s were likely to be familiar with games that include reward schemes involving the use of coins and that they were therefore strongly associated with youth culture.
The ASA considered that the term Ladbucks shared similarities with Robux and V-bucks as they all shared the word “bucks”. Further, while the ASA recognised that “lad” was a play on Ladbrokes, it noted that the term is also a reference to a young boy, which would be widely recognised by under 18s.
Looking at the design of the Ladbuck token, which resembled a poker chip, the ASA determined that this was similar to V-bucks and earlier depictions of Robux. The ASA decided that it was not the use of poker chip imagery in isolation, but the use of the token’s imagery when used in conjunction with the term Ladbucks, that was likely to be recognisable and perceived by many under 18s as similar to the other in-game currencies of online games that were of strong appeal to under 18s.
Overall, the ASA concluded that the name Ladbucks, when considered alongside the imagery and the application of the coin in the ads, was depicted in a manner similar to features in video games popular with children. Therefore, the term, as used in the ads, was likely to be of strong appeal to under 18s and breached the advertising codes.
Why this matters: This ASA’s ruling is another example of the continued effort by the ASA to target gambling adverts that appeal to under 18s. Those responsible for making the assessment as to whether an ad has strong appeal to children, should be aware that the ASA will compare advertising material or names across the spectrum of products, services, events and trends that appeal to under 18s. Those that assess this material for compliance will not necessarily be overly familiar with a lot of the entertainment and culture that has strong appeal to children. It is therefore important to conduct research when making the assessment in order to address any inadvertent blind spots.
