Coral TV advert upsets ASA

Coral is the latest British bookmaking group to attract the ire of the Advertising Standards Authority, which says that the company’s television advert for racing inappropriately links gambling to seduction.

The publication Marketing Week reports that the television ad is the work of the DLKW Lowe agency and depicts men in a barber’s shop discussing betting on a race before becoming distracted by the entrance of a sexy woman wearing a revealing jockey’s outfit.

The woman displays betting odds for a horse on a sign before bending towards one of the men in the scene and flirtatiously tapping his phone with her whip to encourage him to place a mobile bet.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said the manner in which the woman’s entrance was shown placed an immediate emphasis on her sexual attractiveness and that the link between gambling and seduction was reinforced by the sustained influence the character had on her surroundings.

Rather than drawing attention to Coral’s betting offer, the ASA said viewers would be likely to understand the men’s reactions on the woman’s presence in the shop as a sign of attraction to her rather than the odds on display.

Consequently, the watchdog ordered that the advert be removed from circulation.

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