ASA finds betting social media advert to be irresponsible

England and Wales

On 8th December 2021, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) ruled against Dribble Media Ltd t/a Midnite, finding that one of its paid-for social media adverts condoned and encouraged betting in ways that could be financially, socially or emotionally harmful.

The Advert

On 18th September 2021, the ad was seen by the complainant. It included the text “Top tier eSports for UK games… Crazy odds Huge Wins Blitz payouts”, and an image of a tweet which stated “I’m hooked on CS:GO bets rn I’ve been making the craaaaaziest [sic] calls”.

The complainant believed the advert encouraged problem gambling behaviour and challenged whether it was responsible.

The ASA Ruling

It was concluded by the ASA that the advert breached rules 1.3 and 16.3.1 of the CAP Code which respectively provide that marketing communications must be responsible and that they must not portray, condone or encourage gambling behaviour that is socially irresponsible or could lead to financial, social or emotional harm.

The ASA considered that references in the ad to “hooked on CS:GO bets” depicted an addiction to gambling in a positive light, and therefore condoned and encouraged problem gambling behaviours. Additionally, the claim “making the craaaaaziest [sic] calls” presented betting recklessly in a positive light and therefore a way that could lead to financial, social or emotional harm.

Dribble Media explained in its response that the ad was created by a third-party company that had not complied with their policies for social media ads. The ASA acknowledged this, and that Dribble Media’s social media policies were opposed to this form of advertising. However, they still concluded that Dribble Media were responsible for the breach. Dribble Media accepted the findings of the ASA. The ad was removed, and they confirmed they would no longer engage the relevant third-party company.

The full ruling can be found here.

Article co-authored by Hamish Temporal