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The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has banned two advertisements for two different sportsbook companies.
A Coral ad featuring "excited spectators at a horse race accompanied by a dramatic soundtrack" has been pulled from the airwaves.
That advertisement appeared during the month of March and is not to be reshown.
Here is the voiceover:
“Exciting, isn’t it? When your horse wins by a nose. But if that’s exciting, how about three furlongs ago? Look, look, any horse could win. How about now when your horse is under starter’s orders? How long have you waited for those gates to crash open? But that’s nothing. What about earlier still? Your horse is the only horse that matters. Coral. Get closer to the action.”
Complaints soon followed and the ASA investigated.
More specifically, viewers complained that the ad encouraged gambling behaviour that was socially irresponsible or could lead to financial, social or emotional harm.
The ASA acknowledged
(ASA) acknowledged that the ad did not explicitly depict betting, but "the use of Coral banners around the track and in the crowd would lead viewers to interpret it as promoting gambling on horse racing with Coral".
The ASA said: “The ad’s voiceover addressed the viewer in the second person and also referred to ‘your horse winning a tightly contested race’ with no reference to losses.
“We considered there was a significant risk that element of the ad could disproportionately affect, or pressure, those struggling with gambling addiction.”
It added: “Because we considered there was a significant risk of the ad disproportionately affecting a vulnerable group, we concluded that it was socially irresponsible.
“It portrayed, condoned, or encouraged gambling behaviour that was socially irresponsible or could lead to financial, social or emotional harm.”
The ASA also found the another company's advertisement violated its policy.
In that separate ruling, the ASA ruled that an in-app ad for a mobile casino game, Wolf Gold, irresponsibly suggested that gambling was a way to solve financial concerns and achieve security.
The ASA said: “The ad must not appear again in its current form. We told Rank Digital Gaming to ensure that their future ads, including those prepared by affiliates, did not suggest that gambling was a way to achieve financial security.”
- Jagajeet Chiba, Gambling911.com
