Betfred ad, cleared by the ASA

The British advertising regulator rejected a complaint against a Betfred ad which claimed it was irresponsible.

UK.- The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has decided not to uphold a complaint against Betfred. The regulator favoured a bingo ad, accused of being irresponsible, and cleared the company.

The Betfred bingo ad featured people doing everyday activities while playing Betfred bingo online. According to the plaintiff, such depiction normalised gambling and was, therefore, irresponsible.

“The ad did not suggest that people should play bingo excessively, or that it should take priority over any other social interaction,” Betfred responded. It also added that high stakes gambling was not promoted, nor any unrealistic emotions were related to gambling.

The ASA stated “the ad focused on how people could gamble using Betfred bingo while also undertaking tasks or leisure activities around the house. The characters taking a bath and exercising were shown playing bingo in conjunction with doing those tasks, rather than instead of them. Gambling was therefore not portrayed as taking priority over those tasks or as indispensable.

“During the section showing the character preparing a meal, he was seen throwing food in the air when he realised he had won a prize. While we considered the character’s exaggerated reaction to winning showed he was briefly distracted from his task, again we did not consider that this scene portrayed gambling as taking priority in life.

“We concluded that the ad did not portray, condone or encourage gambling behaviour that was socially irresponsible, or portray gambling as indispensable or as taking priority in life.”