Ladbrokes Online Gambling Ad’s Come under Fire
October 25, 2007
After much fanfare and press, it seems the Ladbrokes’ first gambling advertisement on UK television has hit a snag. The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) is investigating the ads after a few complaints that it targets the young male and plays up to the “male bravado and peer pressure.”
A total number of complaints received by the ASA against the advertisement were four. According to ASA spokesperson Olivia Campbell the small number of complaints were significant enough to be followed up with an investigation.
Campbell said, “We don’t need to reach a specific number of complaints. If we receive just one complaint and there is an obvious breach of the code we will investigate it. If a complaint is just emotive, and the advert is within the guidelines, we won’t.”
Some of the points that were raised in the complaints were that the ads were a “clear encouragement to gamble,” as well as “irresponsible, and particularly appealed to young men.” The ads feature former footballers that are very popular and another point was that by using these popular personalities, there was more of a chance that people would likely emulate their behavior.
According to Campbell, the investigation will likely take 2 months to finish.
I am sure this is not what Ladbrokes had in mind with their tag line, “Everybody’s got an opinion, what’s yours worth?”
Emails to Ladbrokes have not been returned in time for this article.
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