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32 Red Brought To Heel By UK ASA Over Kid-Friendly Ads
By Shane Addinall Oct 03, 2019 Industry32 Red found themselves on the sharp end of the UK Advertising Standards Authority over Google ads promoting the kid-friendly slot, Jack and the Beanstalk. But was the ASA overreaching or overreacting?What does it take for the online gambling community to finally approve of an action taken by the UK Advertising Standards Authority?
Simple, ignore the rules and run casino advertisements that target children. This is exactly the sort of unforced error that 32 Red was found guilty of by the ASA with the ill-advised decision to run Google ad campaigns specifically promotion Netent’s Jack and the Beanstalk video slot.
✓Is The ASA Overreacting?
No, they are not. In fact, this is the ASA’s area of expertise, they are in place to protect against this sort of flagrant disregard for the agreed-upon advertising standards demanded by the UK Gambling Commission when awarding online gambling licences.
The ASA are upfront about their intention to protect minors from the inherent dangers of underage gambling and similar compulsive behaviours:
"16.1 Marketing communications for gambling must be socially responsible, with particular regard to the need to protect children, young persons and other vulnerable persons from being harmed or exploited."
In this instance, the ASA has done the right thing by taking swift action against 32 Red and having them remove all offending advertising since it is a clear violation of their terms to promote the very kid-friendly Jack and the Beanstalk slot by NetEnt.
✓But Gambling Ads Are Not For Kids?
Yes, the intended audience is the adult gambling enthusiast, however, the use of cartoony, brightly coloured characters, especially those connected to well-established fairy tales is explicitly forbidden by the ASA.
"7.3 Animated characters: Marketers should avoid the use of colourful and exaggerated animated characters especially those that are common in children’s cartoons such as animals, pirates or fairy-tale characters. For example, the ASA has ruled against the use of characters based on common fairy tales, like Little Red Riding hood and Hansel and Gretel”
Their documentation goes on to comment on the use of characters that are similar to any Disney princesses as well as those with “exaggerated features” and “cute cartoon” pets.
Their reasoning is simple. The cartoonish design and well-known nature of such stories could attract the attention of younger internet users. And since many of these games offer demo modes a child could easily develop a gambling habit at a young age by simply playing for fun.
At a time when the UK mainstream media is quick to jump on the anti-gambling bandwagon in order to “protect the children” this was a poorly timed and completely avoidable misstep which only serves to add fuel to an ever-growing fire.
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