Coral Interactive (Gibraltar) Ltd was hit by another Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) ban today. The company was warned once again after the regulatory watchdog issued a ruling on another e-mail promotional offer distributed via e-mail.
Two issues related to the gambling company’s e-mail promotional offer and a pop-up ad were investigated by the Authority. The advert promoted free £10 bets associated with the outcome of Euro 2016 matches. The first issue that was investigated was related to the e-mail received on June 15th, stating that in case a player bet £/€10 on the game between England and Wales on June 16th and their selection lost, they would get a free bet amounting to £/€10.
On the other hand, the pop-up advert, which was published on the website of Coral Interactive on the same day, read that players could get a £10 Free Bet in case that their selection lost. The promotion was called “J’adore le score” and was active on a daily basis. Both the e-mail and the pop-up ad featured the full Terms and Conditions of the promotion towards the bottom of the ad.
The Advertising Standards Authority was referred to by two complainants. The first one of them claimed that the e-mail promotional offer was misleading, since it turned out that customers must have placed their bet after 8:00 PM in order to become eligible for the promotion, and this condition was not made clear enough. The second complainant referred to the regulatory body on the same matter, but their accusations were related to the pop-up ad on Coral Interactive’s website.
Coral Interactive (Gibraltar) responded to the accusations and explained that the promotion was especially advertised before going live at 8:00 PM. According to the betting operator, the fact that the only customers who are eligible for taking advantage of the promotional offer were the ones who made their bets after 8:00 PM, was made clear enough by the offer in both cases. Still, the company admitted that it would have been right to include this specific piece of information in the main text of both adverts.
The Advertising Standards Authority upheld both complaints, saying that both promotional offers could be misleading to customers. It found that the e-mail and pop-up offer breached CAP Code rules 3.1, 3.9, 3.10, 8.17 and 8.17.1, regarding Misleading advertising, Qualification and Significant conditions for promotions, respectively.
The UK-based regulatory watchdog ruled that Coral Interactive must not release the advert in its current form any more. It also recommended the gaming company to make sure they clearly state all the major conditions for the promotions set to be launched from now on.
- Author
Daniel Williams
