UK advertising watchdog strikes again

Britain’s Advertising Standards Authority, which seems to be keeping a particularly close watch on adverts by online gambling companies, has been active again, handing out reprimands and discontinuation orders to two prominent industry companies.

The latest actions feature Betfred and 888Sports, which have found themselves in the ASA’s sights before.

888Sports came under fire when a punter complained that one of the firm’s football offers lacked T&C clarity on whether the enhanced odds of the offer applied only to the first GBP 10 wagered or not. The ASA agreed with the complainant, ruling that 888 should have been more explicit.

Betfred faced criticism on an email offer promising GBP 25 worth of free bets for any bet of GBP 1 or higher, subject to conditions that a complainant felt were unfair and onerous. The ASA supported the complaint, ruling that the advert content did not sufficiently flag the ‘significant’ conditions attached to it.

In related news, the usual suspects – Paddy Power – also generated ASA complaints after flighting an amusing if risque print ad that featured grimacing Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg and UKIP politician Nigel Farage around the time of their televised political debate, inviting punters to bet on who was the best “mass debater.”

The use of the double entendre triggered two complaints of vulgarity, to which Paddy Power and the Metro newspaper responded that the ad was in light-hearted vein and targeted on a young, intelligent professional demographic with a sense of humour.

On this occasion the ASA agreed with the Paddy Power point of view and no action was taken.