The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has been particularly busy of late, both upholding and rejecting complaints against the advertising practices of various gambling operators.It would appear that this isn’t changing either, with three more operators, this time Bell Fruit Casino, Kwiff, and William Hill, being penalised by the Authority.
William Hill Vegas
A complaint against William Hill was upheld over an advert for William Hill Vegas, which appeared in the game Mario Kart 8 Trick, offering a 200% up to £200 welcome bonus.A complainant questions whether the ad was “appropriately targeted” in a game that was clearly “aimed at children”.While William Hill point to evidence from Nintendo Switch that 86% of players are adults, the ASA counteracted by highlighting the PEGI rating of the game, and suggesting additional factors should have been considered by William Hill.
Kwiff
Kwiff was also taken to task over an advert with language that was considered to be encouraging gambling behaviour “that was socially irresponsible or could lead to financial, social or emotional harm”.While Kwiff claimed that the advert was supposed to be a realistic display of how “customers felt and experienced the app”, the ASA ruled that as the age of the customers in the advert was within the 18-34 age bracket, where risk or irresponsible behaviour is heightened, it was necessary for Kwiff to take “particular care”.
Bell Fruit Casino
Finishing off the list, Greentube Alderney Ltd have been penalised for similar reasons to William Hill Vegas, with an advert for Bell Fruit Casino being seen by the seven-year-old son of a complainant in the Dude Perfect 2 app.While Greentube claimed the necessary steps had been taken to ensure adverts were only shown to adults, the ASA ruled that statistics are skewed for phone apps as many young people play on their parents’ devices.There’s been a wave of such cases recently, although the hope is gambling adverts will become more responsible as a result.