Coral are a big-time name within the world of online sports betting, but that hasn’t allowed them to escape the wrath of the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA). While bookmakers are known to push the envelope as far they can, sometimes in the eyes of governing bodies they can bend the truth a little too much.
Tweet
The controversy surrounding Coral all revolves around a single tweet that was posted back in April, ahead of the Champions League tie between Manchester City and Real Madrid. The tweet read, “The easiest £40 you’ll make this week! Stake £5 on 5/4 Real Madrid to beat Man City and get paid out at 8/1”, with an accompanying image of a woman holding a sign saying, “New Customer Offer – Man City V Real Madrid – Real Madrid to Win 8/1. Winnings Paid In Free Bets”.
Complaint Filed
Following the publication of this social media post, an official complaint was filed. The complaint was actually made up of two parts, both of which were investigated under CAP Codes 3.1, 3.10, and 3.9. The first part of the complaint relates to the belief that the post was misleading, as it lead customers to believe that the wager was risk free. The second part of the complaint relates to how the advert was deemed not clear with regards to the payout being issued in free bets. Following an investigation, ASA has found that the customer was likely to understand that the best was not risk free. However, they did believe that the text related to a free bet related payout was too small and was likely to cause confusion.While Coral obviously took unbridle with the findings, standing by the stance that nothing misleading was published, the ASA have now stated that the advert must not appear again in its current form.