ASA Adjudication on Ladbrokes plc

Ad

A TV ad, for a bingo website, showed a man and a woman sitting at a table in a dingy room. The man was looking through a box of engine parts. The woman looked bored. The man held an engine part in front of her and said "Go on, give that a sniff". The woman said "bingo", got up and left the room. She was then shown sitting at a PC, smiling, playing online bingo. The voice-over and the on-screen text stated "Escape to Ladbrokesbingo.com".

Issue

One viewer complained that the ad breached the Gambling rules because it portrayed a woman, who was depressed and lonely due to a lack of connection with her husband, escaping from her personal problems by playing online bingo.

BCAP TV Code

Response

Ladbrokes said the woman was escaping from a humorous situation (the man sniffing a motor) rather than from problems. They believed the ad was a light-hearted depiction of the differences between genders, rather than a portrayal of domestic strife.  Ladbrokes said their research showed that their target audience found the issue of gender divide funny and easy to relate to. They pointed out that asking someone to 'sniff' an engine was not normal everyday behaviour; they had used  exaggerated advertising hyperbole to make the humour clear. Moreover, they maintained that research indicated that such a light-hearted approach was considered a good tonal-fit for bingo.

Ladbrokes noted the complainant asserted that the woman was depressed and lonely due to a lack of connection with her husband. They believed, however, that that was an extreme and unmerited interpretation.  Ladbrokes said the couple in the ad had different interests rather than deep seated problems; he liked cars and she liked bingo.  Ladbrokes maintained that her reaction was one of "typical bloke! I'm off to play bingo" rather than "I'm depressed, I'm off to play bingo". They believed she had merely thought of something fun to do while he was having some 'man time'.

Clearcast said they had specifically considered the ad under CAP (Broadcast) TV Advertising Standards Code rule 11.10.1(b), which stated "Advertisements must not suggest that gambling can provide escape from personal, professional or educational problems such as loneliness or depression".  They said the ad, which featured a woman feigning interest in a hobby her husband was passionate about, was a light-hearted portrayal of a domestic situation.  Clearcast acknowledged the ad might be seen to portray a scenario of temporary boredom but they believed it went no further and did not portray loneliness or depression.

Assessment

Not upheld

The ASA noted the ad featured an interaction between a woman and her partner involving his interest in motor engines. We noted the woman's apparent lack of interest in her partner's hobby and her subsequent decision to play online bingo as he continued to work on the engine. We considered that viewers would find the sequence where the man asked the woman to sniff the engine component as a humorous and exaggerated portrayal of a couple who did not share the same interest.  We considered that it did not portray the woman as escaping from personal problems, such as, loneliness or depression. We considered that viewers were likely to understand the woman's decision to play online bingo as an individual choice motivated by her desire to participate in a leisure activity in which she was interested. Furthermore, we considered that viewers were unlikely to infer from the overtly humorous situation, that the couple had ongoing problems with their relationship. We considered that the ad did no more than portray online bingo as a leisure pursuit and concluded that it did not breach of the Code.

We investigated the ad under CAP (Broadcast) TV Advertising Standards Code rule 11.10.1(a) and 11.10.1(b) (Rules for gambling advertisements) but did not find it in breach.

Action

No further action required.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Broadcast)