Earlier this week, the UK Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) Code and the British Code of Advertising Practice (BCAP) published some technical updates to the lottery advertising rules and the inclusion of individuals to are or seem to be under the age of 25. The two bodies explained that the planned changes will have no impact on the current advertising policies and practices, and said that the changes are aimed at making the existing rules clearer for Code users.
The promotion of lottery products has been always strictly regulated, with the rules aimed at primarily protecting children (aged 0 to 15) and young people (aged 16-18). As part of these measures, people who are or seem to be under 25 have been suspended from participating in gambling adverts. Personalities and characters depicted in such ads have to be clearly adults, and must not be associated with youth culture in order to be less likely to be found appealing by younger audiences.
Previously, the latest changes to lottery product advertising rules were brought by the CAP and BCAP in 2020. At the time, the regulators officially permitted UK lotteries supporting good causes that benefit underage individuals to include people who are or seem to be under the age of 25 in limited circumstances. The measure was implemented since the two Committees believed it would be unreasonable for the Codes to suspend a lottery provider from depicting individuals that would benefit from the profits gathered as a result of their products’ advertising.
Interpretation of CAP and BCAP Code Rules Raised Some Concerns
As the two Committees officially announced, recent Advertising Standards Authority casework has raised some concerns over the interpretation of the CAP and BCAP Code rules.
Now, to make some alterations in order in each part of the policy set out in CAP rules 17.15, 17.16, 17.16.1, 17.16.2 and in BCAP rules 18.6, 18.7, 18.7.1, and 18.7.2, in order for the requirements to apply to the use and participation of people under the age of 25, on one hand, and people who seem to be under 25, on the other hand. For the time being, only CAP 17.15 and BCAP 18.6 rules fully state these restrictions, and the rest of the requirements only refer to individuals under the age of 25, which, according to the two Committees could have potentially caused confusion when it comes to the rules applying for individuals who seem to be under 25 years of age.
Now, in order to make the language of the CAP and BCAP Code requirements absolutely clear the two Commissions officially announced the following revisions of the existing wording.
As the regulatory bodies shared, the CAP Code Section 17 is set to be amended as follows:
Source: The Advertising Standards Authority
In addition, the BCAP Code Section 18 will be subject to the following changes:
Source: The Advertising Standards Authority
The rules and guidance in the UK Committee of Advertising Practice Code and the British Code of Advertising Practice are periodically reviewed so that the competent regulatory bodies make sure the requirements are clear for Code users, especially after material changes were brought to the policy as they did in 2020. Apart from the aforementioned technical updates that were brought to the rules this week, CAP and BCAP also brought some changes to the accompanying rules guidance in order to make sure the lottery advertising requirements are clear to users.
The latest amendments in the CAP and BCAP Code rules and guidance have been brought into immediate effect.
- Author
Daniel Williams
