ASA Adjudication on BingoHero UK

Ad

An online promotion, on BingoHero.co.uk, said "£15 FREE! No deposit required".

Issue

The complainant challenged whether the claim "£15 FREE!  No deposit required" misleadingly implied that the user would obtain a £15 credit against which they could play games and win money.  In fact, it related to the opportunity to use the website and play for notional winnings that could never actually be withdrawn.  

CAP Code (Edition 11)

Response

BingoHero UK (BingoHero) said £15 was automatically credited to the account of a new player and there was no requirement for a deposit.  They explained that the 'free' £15 was intended to be used as 'practice money' to allow the player to get used to the games and test out their features before playing for real money.  BingoHero pointed out that the ad did not suggest that playing with that money would result in winnings being credited to the player's account.  They pointed to the 'Free Money' terms and conditions which stated "Any winnings derived from the Free money ... are not eligible for withdrawal.".  BingoHero disagreed that the ad was misleading but nevertheless said they had amended the text to state "£15 FREE! *Terms Apply".

Assessment

Upheld

The ASA considered that readers were likely to infer from the claim "£15 FREE!..." that £15 would be credited to their account, which they could use to play games and win money.  We understood however that winnings derived from the 'free' £15 could not be withdrawn.  We noted BingoHero's suggested amendment but considered that it did not go far enough to correct the misleading impression.  We concluded that the ad was misleading.

The ad breached CAP Code clauses 7.1 and 7.2 (Truthfulness).

Action

The ad must not appear again in its current form.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Non-broadcast)