The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has upheld a complaint of an e-mail advert sent by Coral Interactive at the beginning of April this year.
The Gibraltar-based company send a promotional e-mail on April 9th, which featured a text advert saying that as a new customer, the addressee of the e-mail was eligible to get a free bet of £20 which can be used to make online bets. According to the e-mail sent by Coral Interactive, customers are required to enter their accounts and place their first sports bet. The minimum amount of the bet was required to amount to at least £5 in order for the player to become eligible to getting the bonus.
The e-mail ad sent by the gambling and betting operator also said that the free bet of £20 would be granted instantly to the players who had met the requirements. It also stated that customers could get access to a great variety of special offers and promotions on a daily basis by using their Coral Connect Card. There was further text at the bottom of the e-mail revealing the Terms and Conditions of the promotional offer.
According to the complainant who referred to the Advertising Standards Authority, the promotion was not handled fairly. The complainant stated that they placed their bet after receiving the e-mail advert in question, but then were informed that the offer had already expired.
Coral Interactive responded to the accusations, saying that the advertised promotion’s marketing material should not have been released before the Grand National. The company explained that the sign-up bonus was aimed at new customers, but the offer was related to the Grand National only. In addition, Coral said that under the terms of the offer in question, customers could claim a free bet of £5 after placing an initial deposit of £5.
The company claimed that the e-mail promoting the outdated £20 free bet offer was sent to some customers due to an unintentional mistake of a third-party provider. In addition, Coral explained that the promotional offer would not be accessible to the player in any case, because they had already signed for the Grand National promotion, and the sign-up bonus was meant for new customers only. The Gibraltar-based operator apologised for the error.
The ASA, however, upheld the complaint, as it considered the complainant would have rightfully expected to take advantage of the free-bet promotion as they had received the e-mail promoting it. The regulatory watchdog found that Coral Interactive’s ad breached CAP Code rules 3.1 and 8.2 which are related to Misleading advertising and Promotional Marketing.
The Authority banned the advert, saying that it must not appear in its current form any more. It also recommended Coral to make sure that no more outdated promotional offers are e-mailed to customers from now on.
- Author
Daniel Williams
