1. Asa Guidance Gambling Advertising Sites
2. Online Gambling Advertising
3. Asa Guidance Gambling Advertising Sites
4. Asa Guidance Gambling Advertising Websites

ASA and CAP Tighten the Screws on Gambling Advertising The Committees of Advertising Practice (CAP) announced new standards to restrict the use of language and tactics meant to trivialise gambling, lower the perception of risk or create a sense of urgency. The advertising codes consist of the Advertising Standards Code and the five sector Codes where advertisers are expected to take particular care; Alcohol, Children and Young People, Finance, Therapeutic and Health, and Gambling. In interpreting the Codes, emphasis will be placed on compliance with both the principles and the spirit and intention. Firms must read the ASA’s updated advice on betting and gaming which may appeal to children and review the guidance published by the ASA in November 2017. Advertising and problem gambling: Gambling.

A pdf version of this code can be viewed here – Gambling Advertising Code 2019.

Purpose of the Code

The purpose of the Gambling Advertising Code (Code) is to ensure that gambling advertising is conducted in a manner that demonstrates a high standard of social responsibility. All gambling advertisements must be legal, decent, honest and truthful and respect the principles of fair competition. This Code recognises that gambling advertisements must not undermine the need for the prevention and minimisation of gambling-related harm, with particular regard for the need to protect children, young people and other vulnerable persons.

All gambling advertisements must adhere to the Principles and Rules set out in this Code. In addition, the Principles and Rules set out in the Advertising Standards Code describe the standards expected in all advertising, including gambling advertisements. Attention is drawn to the Gambling Act 2003 and the Racing Act 2003.

Definition of Advertisement

“Advertising and Advertisement(s)” means any message, the content of which is controlled directly or indirectly by the advertiser, expressed in any language and communicated in any medium with the intent to influence the choice, opinion or behaviour of those to whom it is addressed.

Application of the Code

This Code applies to all gambling advertisements placed in any media. This code does not apply to any advertisements whose purpose is solely and clearly to educate people about problem gambling.

Ultimately, the responsibility to be aware of and comply with all aspects of advertising regulation is shared between all the parties to an advertisement, including the advertiser, agencies and media organisations. This Code does not apply to content not controlled by the advertiser.

The Code is made up of three parts:

• Principles: The standards expected in advertising.
• Rules: Examples, by no means exhaustive, of how the principles are to be interpreted and applied.
• Guidelines: Information and examples to explain a rule.

Interpreting the Code

Social responsibility in advertising is embodied in the Principles and Rules of the Code. In interpreting the Code, emphasis must be placed on compliance with both the spirit and intention of the Code. It is possible for advertising to be in breach of one or more of the Principles in the Code without being in breach of a specific Rule.

In determining whether a Principle has been breached, the Complaints Board will have regard to all relevant matters, including;

• generally prevailing community standards;
• previous decisions;
• the consumer takeout from the advertisement;
• the context, medium and intended audience; and
• the product or service being advertised.

Asa Guidance Gambling Advertising Sites

Definitions for the Purposes of this Code

“Gambling Advertisement” means an advertisement for:

• “pay to gamble” or “free to gamble” activities, products and outlets (e.g. casinos, casino games, lotteries and instant prize tickets) when the outcome of the gambling depends wholly or partly on chance; or
• betting on racing or sporting events.

“Children” means all persons below the age of 14 years.

“Young People” means all persons who are at least 14 years but under 18 years.

“Targeting Children and Young People” is determined by having regard to:

Online Gambling Advertising

(a) the context of the advertisement and

(b) the following criteria;

1. The nature and intended purpose of the activity, product or outlet being promoted is principally or generally appealing to children or young people.
2. The presentation of the advertisement content (e.g. theme, images, colours, wording, music and language used) is appealing to children or young people.
3. The expected average audience at the time or place the advertisement appears includes a significant proportion of children and / or young people.

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ASA gambling update, with CAP gambling advertising policy specialist Andy Taylor

Last week, we joined the ASA Gambling Update webinar, hosted by CAP gambling advertising policy expert Andy Taylor. The focus of the meeting was to recap on the current state of play across gambling regulations and to discuss the recently announced CAP consultation into the targeting of gambling advertising particularly towards under 18s and other vulnerable groups.

This consultation was in response to a piece of research carried out by GambleAware which was released in March this year. GambleAware is a wholly independent body, funded by an industry levy via the Gambling Commission. Their latest research piece indicated a clear association between ad exposure and the susceptibility to gamble, which called for tighter controls to protect under 18’s and vulnerable groups, questioning whether the current UK advertising code was sufficient enough to protect these groups.

The recap focussed on the major restrictions active today and highlighted how gambling advertising is highly visible across all media channels, and under further media, public and parliamentary scrutiny.

Asa Guidance Gambling Advertising Sites

Some of the key highlighted constraints include:

• Avoiding under 18 audiences.
• Avoiding vulnerable parties (individuals with gambling issues).
• No irresponsible appeal or exploitation of personal circumstance.

Andy Taylor advised that CAP has launched a consultation proposal in response which is due for completion in late January. During the webinar, he indicated that CAP will likely be pushing back on the need to reduce exposure overall but that there may be some adjustments regarding creative restrictions following the consultation.

These restrictions were likely to be as follows:

• Stricter rules around appeal to under 18’s via included content, e.g. celebrities, sportspeople, influencers, cartoon and TV characters – with the example of Jose Mourinho in the current Paddy Power Games ads cited as an example that may be problematic in the future.
• Advertising playing down risk or appearing to emphasise skill – it is expected that they will recommend tightening up around this area too.

He was hesitant to say whether there would be black and white regulations and that it would most likely be judged on a case by case basis.

All Response Media viewpoint

Asa Guidance Gambling Advertising Websites

For now, there is nothing ground-breaking to report as the consultation is yet to be completed, however, the update hinted that there is likely to be further restrictions going forward. The government will shortly be reviewing the 2005 Gambling Act and the industry must continue to work with the government through bodies such as the BGC to limit any significant impact such as blanket bans or channel bans such as those that have recently been imposed on brands deemed as HFSS (High Fat, Salt, and Sugar).

It certainly appears to be sportsbook advertising which has attracted the most attention on the industry in recent years and we expect that it will be more than just creative consideration which will have new rules and guidance to adapt to. Advertising around live sport on radio and TV and shirt sponsorships deals are attracting a lot of criticism for appearance in sports such as football which are ever-evolving into family offerings and have a huge young people and children following.

We envisage that eventually, there will be a blanket pre-9pm ban on advertising for all gambling which would put huge pressure on post-9pm TV inventory, particularly with the news of a similar ban for HFSS.

This will force businesses to look for other avenues for acquisition as with (slowly) declining TV audiences, it will put higher cost premiums on a limited amount of TV and media inventory. The government is demonstrating that they are closely looking at online advertising too, so it certainly makes for challenging times ahead for many sectors and businesses.

We will update accordingly when the CAP consultation is available in the new year.

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