ASA Adjudication on Cashcade Ltd

Ad

An online sales promotion and TV ad for Foxy Bingo.

a. Text on the front page of the Foxy Bingo website stated "£10 FREE NO DEPOSIT REQUIRED … READ MORE". The text was linked via a click through mechanism to a separate page; text stated "PROMOTIONS What You Get When You Join Take some Foxy time today and become part of the biggest bingo family on the net. And as a new member of Foxy Bingo you'll get all this … £10 Free To Start Playing Bingo That's right, as soon as you sign up we'll give you a free £10 to start playing bingo. No catch, no deposit required, just £10 in your new Foxy Bingo account. That's up to 100 free cards to start playing today". Beneath the text was a link labelled "Terms and Conditions".

b. The TV ad showed the character Foxy encouraging women to follow as he led them first onto an open-topped bus and ultimately to a house where a party was taking place. The action was accompanied by the disco song "We Are Family" in which the lyrics were replaced with the words "We are family, try our Foxy Bingo for free … We are family, £10 for my sisters and me …". On-screen text stated "Terms & Conditions apply. Over 18's only" and at the end of the ad "FOXY BINGO … £10 free! £10 for gameplay. No deposit required". A voice-over at the close of the ad stated "Come on, join the party at Foxy Bingo dot com and get ten pounds free".

Issue

The Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Don Foster MP, who understood from the Foxy Bingo terms and conditions that winnings resulting from bingo cards purchased using the '£10 free' offer were paid out subject to a minimum amount of £30 and could be redeemed only after the provision of a credit or debit card and minimum cash deposit, challenged whether:

1.  the use of 'free' was misleading and

2.  the ads were misleading and did not make the significant conditions attached to the offer clear.

CAP Code (Edition 11)

BCAP TV Code

Response

1.  Cashcade explained that players were given £10 with which to play bingo on the Foxy Bingo website, without obligation, to potentially generate winnings.  They pointed out that the TV ad clarified that the £10 was for gameplay and that text on the promotion's webpage clearly stated that the £10 was "Free to Start Playing Bingo".  They further explained that free money offers were widespread among the bingo sector, but Cashcade's offer was distinct, because players were not obliged to deposit a matching amount to qualify for the free money.  

Clearcast explained that they had referred to the joint guidance from the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) and Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice (BCAP) regarding the use of 'free' prior to clearing the TV ad.  They said they had received confirmation from Cashcade that no deposit or payment was required to claim the £10 free gameplay.  As a result they believed the '£10 free' claim was acceptable, because players, in effect, received something for nothing.    

2.  Cashcade explained that, in order for players to withdraw winnings, including those incurred from the free £10, they must hold a minimum of £30 (excluding the free £10) in their account and a deposit must have been made.  They explained that this was to discourage abuse of the promotion by ensuring that the free £10 was wagered.  They said this was clearly set out in the Foxy Bingo terms and conditions, which were referred to in on-screen text in the TV ad and were easily accessible via a weblink from both the registration and promotion webpages online.    

They confirmed that players did not have to spend money to take part in the promotion.  They could, if they had winnings lower than the minimum withdrawal threshold of £30, deposit their own money into their Foxy Bingo account to bring their balance to £30 and then withdraw the whole amount.  They said they had offered the same promotion for three years and had credited the accounts of 500,000 people in that time, but had not received any complaints about the winnings withdrawal process.  

Clearcast said they had viewed the terms and conditions of the free play and were of the opinion that no significant conditions were omitted from the TV ad.  They explained that, although a deposit was required in order to claim prize money won as a result of the free play, they did not believe it was necessary to include that information in the TV ad; not everyone would be a winner and so that condition did not apply to all participants.  They believed all material conditions were included.

Assessment

1.  Not upheld

The ASA understood that all those who registered to play on the Foxy Bingo website had £10 deposited into their Bingo account when it was opened.  We also understood from the terms and conditions that, to redeem any winnings earned as a result of the £10 free play, participants were obliged to make a deposit and had to ensure that their account balance stood at a minimum £30.

We noted text on the front page of the Foxy Bingo website stated "£10 FREE  NO DEPOSIT REQUIRED ..." and further online text connected to the promotion stated £10 Free To Start Playing Bingo ... No catch ...".  The TV ad made similar claims, "try our Foxy Bingo for free ... £10 for gameplay.  No deposit required".  We considered that the ads made clear that the £10 offered was for gameplay only and understood from Cashcade that they had intended to highlight that, unlike other, similar promotions, Foxy Bingo offered £10 for gameplay without the requirement for players to deposit their own funds to retrieve their 'free' award.  

We considered the different circumstances in which the £10 'free' claim could apply.  Firstly, there were customers who registered and took advantage of the £10 offer but did not win anything.  We considered that they were, in effect, given £10 free gameplay without any obligation and the 'free' claim was not misleading in that regard.  Secondly, there were those who participated and won a lower sum than the £30 threshold value.  In order to retrieve their winnings, they were obliged to deposit their own funds to bring their account balance up to the minimum claim amount.  They could, however, subsequently withdraw the full amount; their winnings plus their own cash deposit.  They, therefore, had taken advantage of the £10 gameplay for free and, although they had had to deposit their own funds before they could gain access to their winnings, because they could retrieve the full amount without further obligation to play, we considered that the claim "£10 free" was not misleading in that regard.  There were also players who registered, played their free £10 and won more than the £30 threshold claim value.  In accordance with the terms and conditions, all players could only withdraw winnings if their Bingo account had been funded with a cash deposit.  We noted a minimum amount for that cash deposit was not stipulated, but understood it to be £5.  We noted, however, the cash deposit did not effect the provision of the 'free' £10 gameplay and could be retrieved in full together with any winnings.  Because customers did not 'lose' their cash deposit and were not obliged to put it towards the cost of retrieving their winnings in any way, we considered that it had not been inappropriate to use the £10 free claim in those circumstances.

We concluded that the use of 'free' was appropriate for all customers in both ads and was unlikely to mislead.  

On this point, we investigated ad (a) under CAP Code clauses 7.1 (Truthfulness) and 32.1 (Sales promotion rules - Free offers and free trials) and ad (b) under CAP (Broadcast) TV Advertising Standards Code rules 5.1 (Misleading advertising) and 5.2.4 (Use of the word 'free') but did not find it in breach.  

2.  Not upheld

We understood the complainant's concern, because there were terms and conditions attached to the promotion, which were not clarified in either ad.  We also understood from Cashcade and Clearcast that, in their view, no significant conditions had been omitted.  

We noted the 'free' £10 was deposited into the account of new Foxy Bingo account holders for gameplay and any winnings that resulted from that gameplay were redeemable subject to certain conditions; players had to supply their debit or credit card details, make a minimum cash deposit of £5 into their Foxy Bingo account and ensure that their account held a minimum balance of £30, exclusive of the free £10.

We understood, however, that players' credit or debit card details were used as a form of identity verification at the registration process and also to deposit any winnings.  We considered, therefore, that this was more an initial condition of play attached to Foxy Bingo generally rather than to the £10 free offer and that players would consider it reasonable to submit credit or debit card details in an online environment such as this where funds needed to be exchanged.  Although players were asked to make a cash deposit before they were allowed to withdraw any winnings resulting from the free £10 play, we noted, providing their account balance was at the minimum level required for withdrawal, £30, they could withdraw the full amount.  It was not the case, therefore, that players were obliged to spend any of their own money to either take advantage of the 'free £10' play offer or to withdraw any winnings they generated as a result of it.  

We noted both ads stated "£10 free" and "No deposit required".  We understood, however, that this referred to the fact that no deposit was required to participate in the £10 free gameplay.  We acknowledged that a minimum of £5 deposit was required to retrieve any winnings generated from the free gameplay, but considered that the 'no deposit required' claim had not been contradicted by this, because it was clearly linked only to the "£10 Free" claim; although a deposit was required prior to the withdrawal of winnings, it was not obligatory to make that deposit prior to taking advantage of the £10 free play or to use that deposit for further gameplay.

In addition, we acknowledged Clearcast's explanation that not all of the conditions would apply to all players, because only those who generated winnings from the 'free £10' play were required to deposit any funds or bring their account balance to the minimum £30 required for withdrawal.

Because it was possible to take advantage of the '£10 free' offer without undertaking further obligations, we concluded that no significant conditions had been omitted from either ad.

On this point, we investigated ad (a) under CAP Code clauses 7.1 (Truthfulness) and 34.1 (Sales promotion rules - Significant conditions for promotions) and ad (b) under CAP (Broadcast) TV Advertising Standards Code rules 5.1 (Misleading advertising) and 5.2.3 (Qualifications), but did not find them in breach.

Action

No further action necessary

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Broadcast)

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Non-broadcast)