ASA upholds complaints against Ladbrokes social media posts
The complaints related to posts that featured football managers.
UK.- The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has upheld complaints against Ladbrokes about two Twitter posts featuring football managers. It has ordered the operator to remove the posts.
The posts featured Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe and other managers and referenced betting odds. The ASA ruled that they could potentially appeal to under 18s.
Ladbrokes argued that one of the tweets was editorial and contained no calls to action, promotional offers or links to place bets. It also said that none of the post’s 22,182 impressions targeted a user aged under 25. It accepted that the other tweet was commercial and that it had been wrong to use photos of current football managers.
However, the ASA said both tweets breached rules because they could have strong appeal to under 18s. It noted that Twitter users self-verify their age, therefore the supposition that the tweet was not seen by minors could not be guaranteed.
ASA said the tweets must not appear again in the same form. It advised Ladbrokes not to include people with strong appeal to under 18s in future advertising. It’s the second time that Ladbrokes has recently been criticised for such a breach, following a complaint about a tweet featuring YouTuber and boxer Jake Paul.
