The beginning of the month saw new rules featuring stricter protections for underage individuals come into force at the beginning of the month as part of the commitment of the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) to safeguard young people and vulnerable people.
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has revealed that it is to now take some complaints about the content of gambling and lottery adverts into consideration to make sure that such content will not be found strongly appealing to children and young people. Under the new rules, marketers are now required to ensure that their campaigns are in line with the regulator’s rules.
Under the previous rules of the ASA’s Committee of Advertising Practice, it was required that marketers make sure their advertising materials are not particularly appealing to underage individuals. The newly-unveiled features that feature stricter protections involve “strong” appeal tests prohibiting various types of content – themes, imagery and characters – that are likely to be of strong appeal to people under the age of 18, no matter how adults view this content.
According to the UK advertising regulator’s expectations, the move is set to significantly affect gambling advertisers that have been using celebrities, social media influencers, or prominent professional athletes to promote their brands to customers, considering the fact that such people are usually found much more recognisable and appealing by people under 18 years of age.
No Children-Appealing Imagery and References Allowed in Gambling Ads Anymore
The new rules that came into force on October 1st, will make sure that the imagery and references that gambling ads are allowed to use from now are seriously restricted, so that the ads’ potential to attract the attention of younger audiences.
As revealed by the Advertising Standards Authority, first-tier football players and football players with a considerable fanbase of under-18s on social media will no longer be permitted to appear in gambling ads. Furthermore, marketers will not be allowed to use any sportspeople who are of particular appeal to children, including athletes who are followed by a large number of under-18s on social media, and will not be able to make references to video game content and gameplay that are popular among underage individuals in the country. Reality-show stars are also not permitted to appear in gambling adverts as of the beginning of October.
The Committee of Advertising Practice unveiled the results of its consultation responding to research that had been carried out by the largest gambling charity organisation in the UK – GambleAware – in April 2022. The charity’s research looked in detail at the impact that gambling advertising materials have on British people for the first time ever, with the findings indicating that the implementation of some regulatory changes could help the local authorities protect children from the harm associated with gambling adverts.
Along with the new regulations, the ASA’s CAP has developed a thorough piece of guidance aimed at supporting the application of the new rules and standards, and at the same time consolidating the already existing advice on the interpretation of the rest of the Code’s rules regarding underage audiences in the UK.
- Author
Daniel Williams
