ASA Cracks Whip On Misleading Gambling Ad From 777.com

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), UK’s self-regulatory body for the advertising industry, has ruled against 888 UK Ltd in an ad-related complaint against 777.com, one of the subsidiaries of the gambling group.

According to the complaint raised to the ASA, the 777.com gambling advertisement was an ambiguous campaign that appeared on an affiliate marketing website. The ad in question was promoted on www.betterdeals.live on June 14th, 2021, and users aired grievances about a countdown timer that came along with a free spins offer for the 777.com casino.

The 777.com Advertisement and Complaints Lodged Against It

At the top of the webpage where the advert was posted on the affiliate marketing site www.betterdeals.live, a heading read, “This is a Slot Machine App You Should be Playing in 2021”. Right under this heading was more text as follows: “Using the free spins from the popular 777 Slots app, 32 year old Simona Moron wins the progressive jackpot*”.

Beneath that, there was more text stating that; “Casinos are trying to shut down a free Android App that’s allowing everyday people, like Simona Moron, to win huge progressive jackpots using nothing but free spins.”

Further, the final part of the text that appeared at the bottom section of the webpage said, “77 Free Spins (*T&C’s apply) ENABLED FOR ANOTHER.” A three-minute countdown timer then accompanied the advertisement text.

Now, in the complaint aired to the ASA, the party questioned the potentially misleading nature of the countdown timer as the free spins promotion did not expire when the timer clocked zero. Further, when the matter reached the advertising ombudsman, the regulatory body itself challenged the claims of casinos trying to shut down an Android App that was available for free. An on top of that, the advertising watchdog also sought evidence of any regular players winning progressive jackpot amounts from the free spins as advertised.

Meanwhile, when 888 UK Ltd, the parent company of 777.com, was probed, they disclosed that the advertisement had been posted on the affiliate market website without notice or approval. The gambling group also indicated that according to company policy, third-party publishers who create marketing material for the brand are not allowed to use agencies to curate ads that the 777.com site itself hasn’t provided.

On their part, 777.com disclosed that they had only seen the advert on July 2nd, 2021, and right away, they instructed the affiliate marketing company to pull it down. Additionally, 777.com informed ASA that they moved to suspend all marketing campaigns with the publisher after the ad was removed, effective immediately. Should they resume working with the third-party publisher in the future, 777.com indicated that the ad campaign partnership would continue subject to a strict review and monitoring process.

ASA Verdict for the 777.com Advertisement

Following the complaint, the ASA team analyzed the advertisement, considered all claims, and then published a ruling on its official website. For one, the advertising watchdog acknowledged 777.com’s statement that they were not aware of the ad’s publication until later and that it had been a breach of their ad campaign policy agreement. Even so, the ad ombudsman held the company liable as they were the beneficiary of the misleading information. Accordingly, the ASA upheld the complaint with the following verdict:

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“We considered that consumers would understand that the countdown timer would relate to a specific time limitation in which the “77 Free Spins” promotion needed to be claimed, and that once it ran down to zero, the offer would no longer be available. However, we understood that if the page was refreshed, the timer would reset to start counting down from three minutes again. Therefore, because the promotion was not time-limited, we concluded the ad was misleading. On that point, the ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 3.1 (Misleading advertising), 8.17 and 8.17 4e (Significant conditions for promotions).”

Likewise, on its questions about the authenticity of the advertisement’s claims, ASA upheld that the ad was misleading in nature. On that, the ad watchdog ruled as follows:

Quote

“We considered that consumers would understand the claim “Casinos are trying to shut down a free Android App” as an indication that action had been taken by casinos to try and prevent the app from operating. We also considered that consumers would understand the claim “that’s allowing everyday people, like Simona Moron, to win huge progressive jackpots using nothing but free spins” as an indication that consumers had accrued sizeable winnings using only free spins. However, 777.com provided us with no evidence to support either claim. In the absence of such evidence, we concluded the ad was misleading. On those points, the ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 3.1 (Misleading advertising) and 3.7 (Substantiation).”

After the verdict, the advertising regulatory body instructed 888 UK Ltd and its subsidiary 777.com to ensure that the advertisement didn’t resurface in the same form that raised a complaint. In addition, the gambling group was advised to guarantee that any information appearing in any ads must be substantiated even if affiliate marketers promote them. Finally, 777.com was also warned not to deceptively imply that a promotion was time-limited, for instance, by using a countdown timer if that wasn’t the reality of the offer.