UK ad watchdog raps EA over lack of loot box messaging

The ASA said an ad for Golf Clash was likely to mislead consumers.

UK.- The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has taken issue with an advert from Electronic Arts for the Golf Clash game. It said the ad used on social media channels in March featured insufficient messaging about the presence of loot boxes in the game.

While the ad featured text that read “Includes optional in-game purchases (includes random items)”, an academic researcher in game regulation had reported it to the ASA. EA argued that advertising guidance does not include specific requirements for loot boxes, but the ASA found that the ad breached the Non-broadcast Advertising and Direct & Promotional Marketing (CAP) Code.

The ASA noted that the disclosure appeared in a light grey font over various brightly coloured clips of in-game footage, creating more than one colour contrast. It was also shown for only two seconds. The ASA said that together these factors meant that the ad “was likely to mislead consumers” and that it must not appear again in the same form. The ASA asked EA to take extra due diligence for future Golf Clash ads.

In May, the ASA reported a further drop in the exposure of children to gambling advertising on television across the four nations of the United Kingdom. Its latest report on age-restricted ads found the exposure of under 16s to gambling ads has fallen by two-fifths since monitoring began in 2010. 

The rate of exposure to TV gambling ads in 2023 was 1.8 ads per week. That compares to 3 ads per week in 2010. Children saw one TV ad for gambling for every six seen by adults. The ASA noted that the rate was lowest in England. In Scotland, it was notably higher 2.3 ads per week.