Advertisment
The advertisement was heard on national radio and promoted the advertisers’ new gambling service.
A personality who was the face of the brand provided the voice over which stated:
“[Redacted] here to say, don’t you just love it when things go your way?
Jackpot! The days are getting longer.
Jackpot! I’ve just found a fiver in my jacket.
Jackpot! I’m still getting asked for selfies for playing in Italia 90.
It’s a lucky time to be in Ireland and now you can try your look on Ireland’s new online casino, TonyBet.com!
Visit TonyBet.com. That name again is TonyBet.com!”
A generic voiceover appeared at the end of the advertisement stating “Over 18s only. Please gamble responsibly.”
Complaint
The complainant considered that the advertisement breached section 10.10 of the Code as it did not direct people to a source of information about gambling and gambling responsibly.
Response
The advertisers thanked the Executive for bringing the complaint to their attention and stated that they had re-assessed the advertising in question and had discontinued the non-compliant advertisement on radio with immediate effect.
The advertisers wished to underline that they were committed to being compliant with industry advertising standards and applicable regulatory requirements and said that they had internal advertising guidance which took into account provisions of the ASA Code and provided overall compliance guidance to all internal teams responsible for marketing activity preparation and management.
The advertisers said that in addition to the above, as a second line of defence, all marketing campaigns were subject to compliance review and approval through an internal ticketing system. They said that unfortunately, due to human error, the particular advertising campaign on radio was not submitted for compliance review and marketing guidance was not followed.
The advertisers said that they have raised compliance concerns to the management of the marketing teams and have emphasised the importance in following marketing compliance guidance available. They said that an additional training session was organised with relevant stakeholders as a matter of reminder in order to eliminate human errors in the future.
The advertisers wished to underline that they were fully committed to compliance with respective rules and regulations in the territory of Ireland and explained that the current advertisement launch was not a deliberate action by the company but a mistake by an employee.
Conclusion
Complaint Upheld.
The Complaints Committee considered both the detail of the complaint and the advertisers’ response. The Committee welcomed that once made aware of the error, the advertisement was withdrawn with immediate effect.
The Committee noted the Code requirement that all marketing communications for gambling services or products shall contain a message to encourage responsible gambling and shall direct people to a source of information about gambling and gambling responsibly. While noting that the advertisement did contain a message encouraging people to gamble responsibly, the Committee noted that it did not include a message directing listeners to a source of information about gambling and gambling responsibly. In the light of this, the Complaints Considered that the advertisement breached the Code at section 10.10.
