Online betting operator Unibet is seeking a new creative agency for its European marketing material.
Unibet has launched a tender for a new creative team to handle its European promotional pitches. While details have yet to be announced, Albion, which has handled Unibet’s UK advertising since 2012, is reportedly not vying for the European account.
Albion CEO Jason Goodman told Campaignlive.co.uk that his firm was proud to have helped Unibet establish its brand in the UK market and Albion “look forward to getting busy on another business reinventing this space.”
Unibet has previously worked with DDB Oslo on European marketing, including the ‘luck is no coincidence” campaign. Goodstuff Communications, which oversees Unibet’s UK media buying, won’t be affected by the new European pitch.
GEO24’S PIRATES EARN ASA REBUKE
In less positive news, Geo24 UK Ltd, the company behind the GeoLotto geographical lottery game, has earned the ire of the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) for using kid-friendly pirate images in connection with Geo24’s Booty Pirates brand.
In a ruling issued on Wednesday, the ASA said a complaint had been filed regarding the Bootypirates.com site’s ‘Be A Gangsta’ promotion, which allowed visitors to ‘create and customize your own unique character’ by selecting individual features of pirate-themed cartoon figures. The complainant believed the promotion would have particular appeal for children.
In its response, Geo24 engaged in some dubious musing about the lack of an objective test to determine whether any cartoon or fantastical character held particular appeal for children. Geo24 also argued that its cartoon pirates lacked “strong childlike connotations” because they wore work boots, jeans and sunglasses, and their traditional bejeweled treasure chests had been replaced with briefcases full of paper money.
Geo24 also claimed that the images were only visible on its site and thus weren’t likely to be stumbled upon by kids. Finally, Geo24 argued that there was a longstanding association between pirates and gambling and that the phrase Booty Pirates was clearly a joke aimed at adult audiences and which had no association with youth culture.
Bollocks, said the ASA, which found little distinction between Geo24’s pirates and those prevalent in kid-themed entertainment. The ASA also didn’t buy Geo24’s claims that the promotion’s “grab dat booty” innuendo would be off-putting to kids. The ASA ordered Geo24 to pull the ad and to ensure that future promotions didn’t walk a similar plank.
