ASA warns UK gaming operators

The Advertising Standards Authority has warned two operators from the UK over misleading promotions.

UK.- The ASA (Advertising Standards Authority) has sent warnings to two operators over advertisements in the United Kingdom. The companies are accused of pressuring players to gamble, as well as misleading advertising.

Gibraltar based company Coral Interactive’s TV advertisement was banned in the UK for allegedly pressuring players to gamble, as the April clip featured athletes and a voice that said: “The beautiful game you can watch it or you can get involved in it with the latest Coral action. So are you a spectator or are you a player? You decide. Coral. Get in on the action,” as CalvinAyre reported. The ad received two complaints, but the company responded that it was a “matter of fact read,” whilst ASA said the phrase “you decide” gave viewers the sense that it was an informed choice.

Whilst the authority believes the voiceover isn’t aggressive, it ruled against Coral based on the tone of the ad, and what it implied. “We concluded the ad was likely to suggest peer pressure to gamble, disparage abstention and unduly suggest that gambling could enhance personal qualities and therefore breached the code,” said ASA.

Moreover, LeoVegas was under the spotlight after a misleading ad on social media, where the company linked a page under the phrase “Big winds for Brits after online casino’s glitch,” which detailed a bonus offer from them. The complaints said that Leo Vegas was encouraging players to take advantage of an online casino’s glitch. “The ASA considered that consumers would interpret the claim “It still hasn’t been fixed! Big wins for Brits after online casino’s ‘glitch,’” to mean that because of a fault with an online casino’s website, players were able to win large amounts. We considered that this would entice consumers into clicking through to see how they may be able to take advantage of the glitch which may increase their chances of winning,” concluded ASA.