Upheld – ASA Ruling on Buzz Group LTD

United Kingdom

In the latest example of the new strong appeal rules in action, on 3 January 2024 the ASA issued a ruling which was upheld concerning a post on Buzz Group Ltd’s (“Buzz Group”) Facebook page (the “ad”).

On 1 October 2022, a new gambling advertising rule was introduced (a summary of which can be read here) which strengthened the obligations on gambling operators to ensure the content of their ads is not appealing to under 18s, especially by reflecting or being associated with youth culture. At the time, questions were raised as to what a “strong appeal” really means, but the emergence of a number of rulings since then has provided useful insight into what the Advertising Standards Authority (the “ASA”) is likely to consider falling within scope.

The ad was found to be in breach of the UK Code of Non-broadcast Advertising (“CAP Code”) rules related to gambling after a complaint was made to the ASA that it included an individual likely to be of strong appeal to those under 18. 

THE ADVERT

The ad, seen on 20 October, showcased an animated scene with a large full moon, grinning pumpkin heads, a church resembling witches' hats, bats, a spider in a web, and a graveyard with a tombstone and cross. The post promoted "Monster Mondays," an event where £50,000 could be won every Monday in October. The text, resembling slime, conveyed the message. Logos for Buzz Group and "18+ - BeGambleAware.org" were present at the bottom of the post.

The complainant challenged whether the ad breached the CAP Code as they argued that the cartoon Halloween imagery was likely to appeal to children.

THE RESPONSE AND RULING

Buzz Group argued that, because the ad was featured on its social media page on Facebook, it was restricted to an over-18 audience. Buzz Group went on to say that the ad was also part of a focused campaign “specifically targeted at users aged 25” who had an interest in bingo, and therefore believed that the platform used was evidence for the accuracy of its targeting. For these reasons, Buzz Group considered that it had acted and taken appropriate precautions to prevent under-18s being exposed to the ad. They did, however, acknowledge the concern that Halloween imagery could appeal to children and therefore removed the ad on receipt of notification of the complaint and said they were making changes to their internal marketing approval procedures.

Despite these arguments, the ASA held that animated content and graphics could contribute to the impression that the ad was designed to appeal to under-18s. The ASA considered that the Halloween theme, as well as the use of cartoon imagery and notably the term “monster” was likely to appeal to children.

In response to Buzz Group’s argument that the ad was on a platform restricted to over-18s, the ASA asserted that it would have been acceptable if the platform entirely excluded under-18s from its audience through robust age-verification, but held that the self-verification process that Facebook uses is not robust enough, thus under-18s cannot be entirely excluded.

NEXT STEPS

Although the ASA acknowledged the steps that Buzz Group had taken in response to the complaint, they concluded that the ad was irresponsible and breached CAP Code rules 16.1 and 16.3.12 (Gambling).

The ASA ruled that the ad must not appear again in the complained format and advised Buzz Group to avoid incorporating themes or imagery that could strongly attract individuals under the age of 18 in their future adverts.

The following key takeaways stood out to us:

1.      This ruling has shown, once again, that the ASA does not consider platforms which restrict users based on self-certification to be sufficiently robust to entirely exclude under 18s. As noted in our previous article here, this is the case even where data produced purports to show that no children viewed the advert.

2.      The ASA has provided further insight into what themes it considers to appeal to children. Advertisers should be diligent in their assessment of gambling adverts to ensure that they do not feature imagery which is reminiscent of children’s cartoons and story books, which could include monsters, carved pumpkins, and slime.