Who: The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA); the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP); Buzz Group Ltd; and Happytiger ApS
Where: United Kingdom
When: 3 January 2024 (Buzz Group Ltd) and 10 January 2024 (Happytiger ApS)
Law stated at: 22 January 2024
What happened:
Since the turn of the year, the ASA has upheld complaints regarding gambling advertisements judged to have contravened rules including appeal to children and containing actors aged under 25. The decisions are in line with the UK Code of Non-broadcast Advertising and Direct & Promotional Marketing (CAP Code) rules banning gambling ads containing actors under 25, or those deemed to be of strong appeal to people under 18.
As of 1 October 2022, revised rules provide that marketing communications for gambling must not include a person or character whose example is likely to be followed or who has “strong appeal” to those aged under 18.
On 3 January 2024, the ASA ruled against Buzz Group. This was a Halloween themed ad for Buzz Bingo on a social media page in October 2023. The background contained a full moon, smiling pumpkins, a spider in a web, and witches’ hats, all set in a graveyard. Text stated “MONSTER MONDAYS – £50,000 MUST BE WON EVERY MONDAY IN OCTOBER”. A complaint was raised, challenging whether the Halloween imagery appealed to children.
Buzz Group claimed the ad was restricted to users over 18. It also argued the ad formed part of a campaign targeted at users aged 25 who had an interest in bingo.
CAP guidance states that animated content could contribute to the impression that an ad is designed to appeal to under 18s. Here, the ASA took the view that traditional Halloween imagery is likely to have a strong appeal for children. Carved pumpkins, text font resembling slime, and the word “monster” were all symptomatic of child-like imagery in the eyes of the ASA. Also, given most social media platforms do not have a robust age-verification process, the advertiser was unable to rely on the fact that under 18s were totally excluded from viewing the ad. The ASA told Buzz Group not to include themes or imagery that were likely to have strong appeal to those under 18 years of age in their ads in future.
A week later, the ASA ruled against Happytiger for a TV advert for Happy Tiger Bingo. It featured a ‘”postgraduate student” who was seen enjoying the exciting ‘bingo flash feature’. The actor used phrases such as “so yeah”, “like” and “obviously”. Happytiger was challenged in relation to whether the ad breached the CAP Code because it featured someone who seemed to be, or who was, under 25.
In their ruling, the ASA disregarded evidence provided by Happytiger that the age of the actor was over 25. Instead, the ASA took “postgraduate” to mean the actor gave the image of a student in his early twenties. This was consolidated by a “speaking style and body language associated with immaturity”. As such, the ASA upheld the complaint, warning Happytiger not to feature anyone in their ads who appeared under 25.
Why this matters?
The Buzz Group ruling reinforces the point that if any imagery is being used that has a strong appeal to children, operators need to ensure that it sits behind robust age filters or is in age-gated environments. In relation to Happytiger, we haven’t been able to locate the advert, so cannot comment on the “youthful appearance” and mannerisms of the individual, which was one half of the ASA’s reasoning for ruling on why it was contrary to the CAP Code. In relation to the ASA’s other reason (that the individual was a postgraduate student and therefore likely to be in his early twenties), we think Happytiger can consider itself slightly unlucky: our research shows that there are more postgraduates in the UK aged 26 and over than those aged under 25. Nevertheless, operators must ensure that anyone used in adverts does not seem to be under 25.
