The UK’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has lavished praise on gaming advertisement despite the number of breaches increasing. The number of adverts saw a huge increase, one reason why the number of breaches has increased.
Complaints-wise, the ASA was full of praise for the gaming industry. According to Gambling Compliance, the ASA said, “We noted that the number of complaints about gambling product ads received by the ASA has been slowly decreasing.
“In 2008 the ASA received 262 complaints, in 2009 it received 211 and in 2010 it received 195, which, given the apparent increase in the volume of such ads, does suggest that advertisers are aware of the gambling rules and working hard to ensure compliance with those rules.”
The results were compiled during the first week of July last year and saw 796 ads assessed. No breaches were found in broadcast media comparing favorably with 2007 when there were six. One thing to note though is that the compliance team was unable to click through Internet banners. This meant that there was no way to check whether they were compliant.
The report added, “Of the 796 ads assessed, we considered 31 were likely to breach a code, a compliance rate of 96.1 percent.
“The result is 2.9 percent down on the findings of the 2007 Gambling Survey, which recorded a compliance rate of 99 percent.
“It is worth noting, however, that 25 of the 31 ads were near identical and were placed by only two companies. Those ads offered ‘free bets’ but did not include significant terms and conditions.
“The advertisers whose ads were likely to breach a code were contacted and the compliance team sought assurances that the ads will not be run again.
“The sector is under close scrutiny from many quarters, and ongoing monitoring of gambling ads across all media will continue to ensure high levels of compliance with the codes are maintained.”
The names of companies who weren’t compliant are not mentioned. Remember that many of the firms have a significant amount of hired muscle to call upon if the ASA comes calling. After all, Ray Winstone was in a Borstal at the age of about 7 and three quarters. AKA, he’s as ‘ard as fooking nails! Paddy Power, meanwhile, will arrange for your cat to be kicked into a tree.
