UK gambling advertising campaign banned after 125 Complaints
The decision covers five adverts – two broadcast on television, two video spots and one radio promotion – which aired in April and May 2026.
UK.- The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has ruled against a series of advertisements by gaming operator Midnite, (Dribble Media) following 125 complaints about the campaign. The decision covers five adverts – two broadcast on television, two video spots and one radio promotion – which aired in April and May 2026.
It’s not the first time Midnite has faced censure from the ASA. Last year the regulator upheld a complaint over an advert featuring Son Heung-Min. The relative newcomer has been aggressively expanding its marketing footprint, with campaigns across TikTok, Instagram and YouTube. Researchers at the University of Bristol previously complained about content marketing on X that included pictures and jokes involving high-profile footballers like Harry Kane, Harry Maguire and Jack Grealish.
In April, Midnite launched its betting app into space as part of a publicity stunt. It also has sponsorship deals with EFL Championship clubs Wolverhampton Wanderers, Southampton, Middlesbrough and Sheffield United.
Why Midnite’s advertising campaign was banned
Midnite’s latest banned ads portrayed everyday frustrations with malfunctioning technology, including supermarket scanners, vending machines and hotel key cards. In the visual versions, characters’ irritation was exaggerated by pulsating veins on their heads.
The first TV ad depicted a man encountering various inconveniences, such as a supermarket scanner and vending machine not working. In each case, a voiceover stated something like: “Scanner didn’t work”, “Hotel didn’t work”. Finally, he was shown using his phone with the text “Grandad’s bookie” on it and a continuing loading icon, with the voiceover stating, “Grandad’s bookie didn’t work”. This advert and others concluded with a jingle: “We can’t fix the rest, but our betting app [or casino app] is actually pretty good”.
The ASA determined that the campaign implied gambling could serve as a coping mechanism, breaching multiple advertising codes and being “socially irresponsible and potentially harmful.”
Midnite argued that the ads were designed to contrast unreliable technology with the “reliable” performance of its app. The operator also highlighted its emphasis on responsible gambling messaging prior to launch. The regulator rejected this defence.
“We acknowledged Midnite’s view that they believed the ads focused on the user experience, quality and functionality of their app. However, whether or not the reliability of gambling apps was a known issue, we considered that consumers were likely to understand those claims in context not solely as statements about product quality, but also as implying that turning to the app offered some kind of relief from the frustrations that were the focus of the ads,” the ASA stated.
“Further, although the ads stated that Midnite could not ‘fix’ those situations, we considered the juxtaposition between the repeated frustrations and the final reference to the app was likely to convey that using the app was a way to move on from, or forget about, those frustrations in some way. We therefore considered the ads suggested that gambling could alleviate stressful situations or frustration and could therefore function as a coping mechanism.”
