Online Bingo versus the ASA

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) exists to ensure that advertising across media follows the strict codes in place to ensure it’s fair and doesn’t cause any offence or upset to anyone who sees, hears or reads it. They receive and respond to complaints, whether there’s one complainant or 250, and time and again online bingo companies find themselves up against the ASA regarding their ads. Every week they post their most recent adjudications and many of the leading bingo companies out there have fallen foul of one or more complainant, although in most bingo related cases there seems to have only been one individual unhappy with the ad.

After a complaint is made the ASA investigate thoroughly and seeks to hear a response from the company as to why they believe their advert doesn’t contravene any of the standard codes and is perfectly harmless. The ASA can then decide whether they discard the case or it is upheld and therefore they take some form of action; this is usually in the form of asking that the advert be removed from circulation completely. Below we’ve taken a look at some recent bingo related adjudications, the majority of which were upheld and removed from the media.

Upheld Adjudications

The first adjudication we’re looking at occurred back in June 2012 and involved Fabulous Bingo as the Gambling Reform and Society Perception Group (GRASP) questioned whether their TV advert was irresponsible as it linked sexual attractiveness and success to playing bingo, therefore gambling, The ad showed two women sitting in a café, one dressed drearily, the other in bright clothes and smiling. The first woman then goes onto sign up for Fabulous Bingo and as she does so she transforms into similar glamorous clothes, has coiffured hair and is made-up to perfection. GRASP said this suggested signing up to the site would change your attractiveness, which they considered irresponsible. The ASA agreed with GRASP and they agreed that the ad linked playing online bingo with increased attractiveness and therefore breached the code. Fabulous were told they couldn’t show the ad again in the same form.

Another adjudication which was upheld occurred this July and Gala Bingo were the culprits, with an email newsletter which caused a complaint to come in. The email in question stated specific terms relating to a bonus code for a popular slot at the site and the complainant believed the terms of the bonus promotion offered in the email were misleading. On looking at the complaint the ASA agreed, this conclusion was arrived at after listening to Gala’s response and the ASA determined that the email contravened codes by both misleading advertising and significant conditions for promotions, therefore they ordered that the advert must not appear again in the form complained about.

There are several other adjudications on bingo sites and it’s noticeable that on most occasions the complaints are upheld, with only six occasions in the last four years where the complaint was not upheld.

Robin Hood Bingo get the All-Clear

Back in August the Robin Hood Bingo team found themselves at the mercy of the ASA as a viewer made a complaint regarding their television ad. The ad in question features Robin Hood himself and several female characters with whom he discusses the latest offers at the site. The complainant challenged the ad as they believed it was irresponsible due to it potentially appealing to under eighteens and they also believed it to be breaching codes as two of the actresses in the advert appeared to be under twenty-five. Robin Hood Bingo were able to respond with proof that the actresses in question were actually 27 and 29 and put forward a strong case to suggest they did not design the advert with under eighteens in mind. The ASA looked at this ad in relation to the code relating to social responsibility and found that it did not breach it in anyway therefore the ad could continue to run as before.

Who’s Next?

With more and more bingo sites appearing in popular media we’re sure there will be even more complaints coming into the ASA as people are affronted by elements of them. In nine out of ten occasions we’re sure that the sites in question weren’t aiming to offend or upset anyone, or indeed act irresponsibly, but just attempting to put together the best quality advertisement they can to attract more members to their sites.

We’ll be keeping an eye out to see who’s next up against the ASA.