Further to our previous article1, which commented on the recent Advertising Standards Authority (“ASA”) ruling against a Ladbrokes ad that featured current Premier League footballers Philippe Coutinho, Jesse Lingard and Kalidou Koulibaly, the ASA has issued two further rulings under its updated rules that prohibit gambling ads with “strong appeal” to under-18s.
As we previously reported on2, the ASA’s first ruling strictly applied the latest restrictions to a Ladbrokes ad featuring Coutinho, Lingard and Koulibaly, as they are categorised as “high risk” persons by the ASA, ruling that the ad must not re-appear in its current form (see paragraph 3 under the first sub heading below).
These latest rulings, which focus on Paddy Power and SkyBet ads, provide useful lessons for advertisers to analyse whether featuring retired sportspersons (and particularly those involved in punditry) in their gambling advertisements will also breach the ASA’s updated restrictions. In the latest rulings, the level of appeal to under-18s of former England footballers Peter Crouch and Micah Richards came under the ASA’s microscope.
The rulings are available here and here.
This article explores:
