APPENDIX 1
Consideration of Betting and Gaming Issues
under the CAP Code
In 2002, the ASA received 13,959 complaints
about 10,213 separate advertisements. There were 103 complaints
(0.7 per cent of the total) about advertisements for gambling
and betting services, relating to 88 separate advertisements (0.9
per cent of the total.) Of these:
— 17 complaints were outside the ASA's
remit (generally relating to claims on a company's own website
or in a betting shop);
— 30 were based on a misunderstanding
and it was clear that the advertiser had no case to answer (generally
when a complainant has overlooked explanatory information in the
advertisement);
— 15 complaints related to matters
of taste and decency (generally relating to the depiction of women);
— 14 were withdrawn (generally when
a complainant chooses not to continue with their challenge);
— eight were requests for removal from
mailing lists and were passed to the Mailing Preference Service;
— three related to a mailing about
which the Authority had already upheld complaints; these were
passed to the CAP Compliance team who received an assurance that
the advertiser would seek advice from the CAP Copy Advice team
on future mailings; and
— three were passed on to the relevant
European Advertising Standards Alliance member (on the accepted
principle that advertisements are considered under the advertising
regulations of the country of origin).
The remaining 13 complaints (concerning 12 separate
advertisements) concerned issues of misleading advertising. two
of these represented clear breaches of the Code and were closed
informally once an assurance had been received from the advertiser
to avoid such claims in future.
The other 11 were formally investigated, at
which advertisers are required to submit substantiation for consideration
by an Investigations Executive. Of these, eight complaints were
upheld, two were not upheld and one is still under investigation.
Of the 4,371 written requests for advice received
by the CAP Copy Advice team in 2002, 65 related to advertisements
for betting and gambling services.
BETTING
Early in 2002, the ASA upheld a complaint against
the claim "triple your chances of success" for an NRT
product. Although this was not an investigation into gambling
products or services, it does demonstrate that the ASA is in a
position to consider technical definitions of such terms to reach
adjudications that serve to protect the consumer. [8]
This can further be shown in an ongoing case in which the ASA
is assessing a "better odds" claim.
The ASA will also analyse the profit claims
made by betting tipsters, which are often dependent on volumes
of technical information. Advertisements for tipsters with profit
claims are now required (following a case involving Brimardon
Systems) to include information including the recommended stake
to help consumers understand the nature of the claims the advertisers
are making.
The ASA has also assessed the clarity and fairness
of comparative claims and investigated complaints about the language
used by advertisers (eg "start winning the same day")
considering whether or not the language is likely to mislead consumers.
This builds on the ASA's great experience across a number of sectors
in considering the impression given by advertising copy. The Copy
Advice given generally required advertisers to tone down claims,
taking into account the fact that readers familiar with the principles
of gambling are unlikely to read claims by bookmakers such as
"making the FA Cup a winning event" literally.
The most common complaints are from former customers
who consider that a service has not lived up to their expectations.
Advertisers are required to "proof" their tips, by lodging
them with an independent and respected third party before the
sporting event takes place.
In addition, following consultation with relevant
stakeholders, CAP has published a Help Note on Advertisements
for Betting Tipster Services to explain to the industry the kind
of advertising that will be acceptable. This Help Note is attached.
CASINO
Most complaints relate to betting shops rather
than casinos, given the current limitations in advertising. However,
the ASA has considered several about online casinos. In 2002 we
upheld a complaint against 888.com. This complaint involved a
pop up advertisement which suggested a download was underway.
When the user tried to "cancel" this download, they
were taken to the 888.com website. The ASA ruled this advertisement
a breach of the Code.
A second case centred on the likelihood of the
bright colours in an advertisement appealing to children. This
complaint was not upheld, but is an example of an advertisement
which falls outside the traditional issues relating to gambling
about which the ASA has will consider complaints.
Following a recent compliance survey, online
gambling advertising was identified as an area of possible concern,
in particular where these advertisements appear of sites visited
by minors. The ASA has adopted the established rule for other
media that gambling can only be advertised on sites where 75 per
cent of its visitors are over 18.
LOTTERY
The last category of complaints relates to lotteries.
These complaints rarely relate to the National Lottery (the licensee
of which has to abide by the Lottery Commission's own code which
requires compliance with the CAP Code), but more regularly are
mailings which offer the opportunity to enter foreign lotteries.
Again, the ASA is likely to have more experience dealing with
such mailings than any other body and it would be difficult to
draw a line separating those mailings that come under a GC Code
and the CAP Code.
8 In short, odds are the ratio of an event occurring
to its non-occurance. If the advertiser's claim a success rate
of 23.6 per cent compared to a placebo success rate of 10.2 per
cent then the odds of success are 0.236/0.764 = 0.31, the odds
of placebo success are 0.102/0.898 = 0.11, meaning that the odds
are 0.31/0.11 = 2.82. The increased chance of success is 0.236/0.102
= 2.31. The former rounds up to three, the latter to two-hence
the upheld adjudication. NB: that in a racing context the chance'
are in fact known as the "odds". Back
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