Britain's Advertising Standards Authority bans Sky Vegas advert

The UK’s Advertising Standards Authority has banned a Sky Vegas gambling television advertisement, claiming that its central character glamorises gambling.

The Roulette Rock Star presentation features a typical man-in-the-street going about his rather mundane business who transforms into the glamourous character identified with the title of the advert with the message:

“This morning he was doing his recycling, but right now he’s in Sky Vegas. And here, he’s the roulette rock star riding an electric riff of red and black.”

The advert attracted a complaint from a member of the public, triggering an ASA evaluation, which concluded that the presentation glorified gambling, depicting the central character as “exuding the confidence, personality and qualities of a rock star and improved his self-image.”

The company argued: “There was no reference or inference that he [the central character] was, indeed, a musician whose abilities were enhanced and became a better musician or ‘rock star’ because of his gambling….he remained the same person with the same everyday qualities … he only felt like a ‘rock star’ because of the excitement of playing at Sky Vegas.”

However, the ASA disagreed ruled:

“Although no physical transformation was depicted, we considered the ad implied a distinct change in Michael because he was playing roulette on Sky Vegas – taking the character from ‘everyday Michael’ to ‘rock star Michael. Therefore, we concluded that the ad suggested that gambling would enhance the personal qualities of those gambling.”

The disputed advert remains on Youtube but is age-restricted here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lf8_fxqEzn4