A TV advert for British gambling operator Ladbrokes has been taken down after the country’s advertising regulatory body found that the ad depicted socially irresponsible gambling behaviour.
The ad, seen on April 10th, 2021, showed a man who watched a football match and then appeared to be using his phone to place bets. Then, another man was depicted while using the mobile application of Ladbrokes on his phone while at a train station and acting like being visibly frustrated.
A third scene was displayed, featuring three men watching a football game and screaming together after a goal was scored. A few tense moments followed while the goal was being reviewed by the VAR technology and then, the Ladbrokes logo was displayed, along with a voiceover that encouraged customers to boost their accumulator odds at the company’s betting platform.
The person who filed the complaint challenged the ad as they believed that it portrayed people who seemed to be addicted to gambling. According to the complainant, the gambling behaviour that was displayed in the advert was socially irresponsible.
Ladbrokes responded to the accusations, saying that the advert went through a thorough review before it was allowed to be displayed, including seeking advice from CAP’s Copy Advice service regarding a VOD version of the ad. The gambling operator explained that the main objective of the advert was to depict the feelings people experienced around football matches. According to the company, none of the three aforementioned scenes depicted behaviour that could be considered an indicator of gambling addiction.
ASA Finds Challenged Ladbrokes TV Ad Breaches CAP Code Rules about Gambling
Under the CAP Code rules, adverts are required not to portray, accept or promote socially irresponsible gambling behaviour that could result in emotional, financial or social harm for the customers. According to the CAP’s Advertising Guidance, adverts that depicted or referred to people displaying problem gambling behaviour were likely to breach the Code rules. That is exactly why companies are required to avoid making an implication of such socially irresponsible behaviours.
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) investigated the controversial ad under the rules of the CAP Code. The advertising regulatory body acknowledged the view of both the gambling company and Clearcast that the advert depicted people’s emotions associated with enjoying football. However, the watchdog said that the man depicted in the first scene of the ad looked preoccupied with his betting. Furthermore, according to the ASA, viewers could interpret the accompanying voiceover as referring to a person whose betting behaviour is repeated throughout the game.
The advertising regulator also said that the behaviour of the man depicted in the second scene seemed to be a result of his betting, rather than just showing him enjoying football, which could mean he had been preoccupied with gambling. On the other hand, the third scene’s voiceover could be interpreted in a way that the men’s excitement was a result of potentially winning their accumulator bet, rather than simply watching the football match.
As a result of its investigation, the Advertising Standards Authority said that the Ladbrokes TV advert appeared to depict serious mood swings that directly relates to the tension of the users’ potential winnings, which is why the watchdog concluded that problem gambling behaviour has been depicted by the ad.
The advertising watchdog found that the advert was socially irresponsible because it violated BCAP Code rules 17.3 and 17.3.1 associated with gambling. The advert was taken down and Ladbrokes was warned to make sure its ads no longer display socially irresponsible gambling behaviour.
- Author
Olivia Cole
