On 12 December 2018, the Advertising Standards Authority (“ASA”) published their ruling in relation to three TV ads run by Camelot UK Lotteries Ltd ("Camelot") for the National Lottery in September 2018. The ASA ruled in Camelot’s favour, finding that the ads did not breach the UK Code of Broadcast Advertising (“BCAP”) Code.
The ad
The ads told the story of a family who had won a large prize on the lottery and had bought a new house.
The complainants alleged that the ads suggested that participating in a lottery could be a solution to financial concerns. The ASA investigated the ads under BCAP Code rule 18.2.3 (Lotteries).
The main advert lasted for 2 minutes. It showed a man leaving for work very early in the morning. During the day the man and his partner seem sad, and each come up against challenges. Later, the woman finds out that the couple have won the lottery and immediately visits a solicitor to buy a new house. When the man gets home, he finds the old house empty along with a note from his partner telling him to come to the new house. The other ads were edited versions of the main ad.
The ads were set to melancholy music which gave the impression, along with the solicitor visit and empty house, that the couple might be separating.
Camelot claimed that the sadness experienced by the couple while the man was at work was simply because of their physical separation.
Further, Camelot had made various upgrades to the couple's original home so it was clear that they were not in financial difficulty. It was also inferred in the ad that despite winning the lottery, the man had continued to work. Camelot asserted that the ad simply represented the benefits of winning a financial prize.
The ASA's ruling
The ASA considered that the ad immediately established that the man’s work routinely took him away from his family, and that both the man and the woman faced challenges in their everyday lives.
The family home appeared to be unremarkable and neither did the family’s financial security appear to be a part of the story of the ad. The ASA considered, therefore, the implication was that the time apart was the source of the strain placed on the family, as opposed to any underlying financial concerns.
When in the final scene it was revealed that the couple had won a prize on the lottery, and that the woman had used at least some of the prize to buy a new house, the couple’s interaction suggested that they had previously discussed buying that house if they were ever to win.
The lottery win had allowed the family to live in a nicer house, compared to their original, unremarkable family home. The ASA considered that the ad depicted a couple trying to balance the demands of work and raising a family.
The ASA concluded that the ad had not implied that participating in the lottery had been a solution to financial concerns for the family featured, or that doing so could be a solution to financial concerns for others.
As there was no breach under BCAP Code rule 18.2.3 (Lotteries), the ASA stated that no further action was necessary.
The full ruling can be found here.
Key takeaways
This case is a useful reminder to all gambling operators that marketing communications must not suggest that participation can be a solution to financial concerns, an alternative to employment or a way to achieve financial security. Advertisers may, however, refer to other benefits of winning a prize.
In this case, Camelot was able to demonstrate it had considered each of these points and could refer to certain parts of the advert to provide evidence for this.
Co-authored by Laura Bilinski.
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