UK advertising watchdog raps XLMedia for Mason Mount ad

The ASA said the affiliate group has failed to respond to its communications. 

UK.- The UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has criticised the affiliate group XLMedia for failing to respond to concerns about an Instagram advert that featured the footballer Mason Mount. 

The post, which appeared on July 11 and 12, promoted the freebetsdotcom brand. Two complaints were received against the advert because it featured an image of a footballer aged under 25. Mount was aged 24 and played for Chelsea at the time the ad appeared. He has since moved to Manchester United. 

The ASA says that it contacted XLMedia but that the affiliate group failed to respond. The ASA noted that under the CAP Code, gambling adverts must feature anyone aged under 25 in a significant role. It recognised that freebetsdotcom does not directly offer gambling but collects betting offers from operators. However, it said regulations apply because the site allows customers to interact with gambling services. 

The ASA said it was “irresponsible to feature someone who was aged under 25 playing a significant role” and so the advert breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rule 1.3 on social responsibility. It also said XLMedia had shown “apparent disregard” for regulations and had breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rule 1.7 due to the unreasonable delay in its response.

The ASA said the ad must not appear again in its current form and that future adverts must not feature anyone aged under 25 in a significant role. It has referred the case to the CAP’s compliance team.

Last week, the ASA upheld a complaint against an advert for the Postcode Lottery that appeared in the Daily Mail newspaper on July 1. The regulator ruled that the advert suggested that playing the lottery could solve financial concerns, which is prohibited under the rules for gambling ads.

The advert featured a fictional situation, showing an NHS nurse and her fiancé. A line of text read “we had to postpone the wedding when Craig lost his job“. That was followed by a second text that read: “couple’s wedding is back on after they scooped £62,500 on People’s Postcode Lottery”.