Betfair and William Hill ads banned by ASA over exposure to children
A total of four gaming operators have their ads banned for inappropriately targeting minors
Four separate gambling advertisements for William Hill Vegas, Betfair Bingo, Dunder and LottoGo have been banned by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) for failing to prevent exposure to minors.
The adverts all appeared in the Looney Tunes World of Mayhem app, which provides players with the opportunity to earn “gems” in exchange for viewing adverts or performing tasks.
In all four cases, advertisements invited players to open new accounts with the operators, subject to them being over the age of 18. Advertisements were featured above offers of additional gems.
The advertisements invited players to register
The advertisements were placed by affiliate company Tapjoy, which said the developers of the Looney Tunes app had opted in to accept advertising content at a “mature-plus” level. This was later changed by the publisher of the app.
Under current CAP codes, marketing communications for gambling must not be directed at those aged younger than 18 years “through the selection of media or context in which they appeared”.
The ASA said given the use of cartoon characters, cartoonish violence and the relatively simple nature of the game, it considered it was likely to appeal to many individuals under the age of 18.
As such, the ASA has ordered the removal of all four adverts from the Looney Tunes game, asking the operators involved to ensure their ads are appropriately targeted in the future.
Betfair, LottoGo and Dunder have all since terminated their relationship with Tapjoy, while William Hill said it had blacklisted the Looney Tunes app and would not allow any of its affiliates to place adverts there in the future.