UK advertising watchdog upholds complaint against gaming ad featuring Son Heung-Min
The ASA said the post was likely to be of strong appeal to under 18s.
Uk.- The UK’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has upheld a complaint against a post on Midnite’s X page that featured a video of footballer Son Heung-Min holding the Europa League trophy following Tottenham Hotspur’s 1-0 victory over Manchester United. Published on May 23, the post had a caption reading: “How bro starts acting after winning £8.10 from a 30p 8 fold acca bet”.
A researcher from the University of Bristol lodged a complaint suggesting that the post was likely to be of strong appeal to under 18s, and therefore in breach of the CAP code of conduct for gaming ads. Dribble Media, which operates as Midnite, acknowledged that claim, although it said it believed the ad to be humorous editorial rather than a marketing communication intended to drive traffic or sell a product.
The operator said it believed consumers who engaged with the post understood that it was intended to be a light-hearted. It removed the content as soon as they were contacted by the ASA. It also said it had since implemented a revised marketing policy to ensure all their gambling-related content on social media was compliant with the CAP Code.
However, the ASA noted that the final of the Europa League was a high-profile sporting event that attracted significant media attention and that Midnite offered bets on football matches. The post also included a direct reference to an accumulator and to winning money on a bet.
“We considered the purpose of the post was to promote the brand through creating a viral video and that it had featured a direct reference to gambling. It was therefore directly connected with the supply of betting services and was an ad falling within the scope of the CAP Code,” the ASA said.
From October 2022, the CAP Code stated that marketing communications for gambling products must not be likely to be of strong appeal to children or young persons, especially by reflecting or being associated with youth culture. They must not include a person or character whose example was likely to be followed by those aged under 18 years or who had strong appeal to those aged under 18.
As in previous cases involving social media posts, the ASA noted that at the time X, like other platforms, relied on users to self-verify their ages, meaning that under 18s could falsely claim to be older. It deemed X’s additional measure of allowing third parties to report accounts they believed were underage to be fairly useless. An Ofcom report from November 2023 indicated that the UK online 15–17 year olds social media by reach in May 2023 for X was 1.4 million – 60 per cent of 15–17-year-old online users.
The ASA concluded: “Given that evidence, we considered it was likely that there was at least a significant number of children who had not used their real date of birth when signing up to X and were able to see and access content intended for those aged 18 or older, meaning they could view content from verified gambling accounts, both from ‘following’ that account or through the X FYP functionality.’
It added that Son Heung-Min would be well known to anyone who followed Premier League football, including children, noting that he also played for the South Korea national football team. As such, he was deemed to be a person who was likely to be of strong appeal to under-18s.
The ad was found to have breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 16.1, 16.3 and 16.3.12 (Gambling).
It’s not the only complaint that researchers at Bristol University have lodged against posts from Midnite. Earlier in the year, it had complained about content that included pictures and jokes involving high-profile footballers like Harry Kane, Harry Maguire and Jack Grealish.
