ASA Adjudication on Betfair Ltd

Ad

An e-mail ad for an online poker site showed a photograph of a young woman. Text stated "ONLINE EXPERIENCE IS MEASURED IN GAMES, NOT YEARS. JOIN THE NEW BREED. Annette Obrestad - "ANNETTE_15".

Issue

1. The complainant objected that the ad was irresponsible, because it might encourage children and young people to gamble.

2. The ASA challenged whether the ad breached the gambling provisions of the Code, because we understood Annette Obrestad was 20 years of age.

Response

1. Betfair Ltd (Betfair) said they did not target their marketing at under 18-year-olds. They said they did not believe their ad would encourage children and young people to gamble, partly because of the media selection used to distribute the e-mail and partly because of the technical measures they used to prevent children and young people from gambling on their site. They said the e-mail was distributed to people who had registered with Lucky Lotto. They said, to register there, users had to give their date of birth, and Betfair's arrangement with Lucky Lotto was that the e-mail would only be distributed to people who had confirmed they were over 18 years old. They pointed out the complainant did not imply he or she was under 18 or that the e-mail had been seen by an under 18-year-old. They said Betfair also complied with its licensing obligations by not permitting under 18s to gamble on the site. They said they had a team dedicated to verifying the age and identity of customers and they used a variety of methods to prevent under 18s from using their products. They also said they supported the use of parental control filtering software which could be installed and set up to prevent children from accessing their site.

2. They said Ms Obrestad was featured in the ad not because of her age but because of her standing as a poker professional and champion who had had a profound effect on the game. They said Ms Obrestad, at 20 years of age, was an adult, outside the definition of a child or a young person under the Code and the Gambling Act. They said professional poker players, as well as making their living from playing poker, also derived earnings from sponsorship deals and Annette's ability to do this would be restricted if she was unable to appear in marketing materials. Notwithstanding that, Betfair said clear instructions had been given to their marketing department not to use Annette Obrestad again in marketing material directed at UK consumers and they were disappointed she had been, and apologised for the error. They said they would shortly be undertaking internal training to ensure the marketing department was fully briefed.

Assessment

1. Upheld

The ASA noted Betfair's assurance that no under 18s would be sent the e-mail because of the age-restriction arrangement they had with Lucky Lotto. Whilst we accepted the ad had not been deliberately targeted at young people in its distribution, we also noted the Code stated that marketing communications should not be likely to be of particular appeal to children or young persons, especially by reflecting or being associated with youth culture. We considered that Ms. Obrestad's online handle in the ad, "Annette_15", together with text stating "ONLINE EXPERIENCE IS MEASURED IN GAMES, NOT YEARS", implied that Ms. Obrestad was even younger than she was (aged 20). Because of that, we concluded the ad was likely to have particular appeal to children and young people, and that, by representing a successful young poker player with the implication she was 15 years old, it could encourage young people to gamble and was therefore irresponsible.

On this point the ad breached CAP Code clauses 57.2 and 57.4l (Gambling).

2. Upheld

We noted the Code stated that no one under 25 years of age should be featured gambling in a marketing communication, or playing a significant role. Because Ms Obrestad was 20 years old and because, as a professional poker player, she played a significant role in gambling in the ad, we concluded the ad breached the provisions of the Code.

On this point the ad breached CAP Code clause 57.2 and 57.4n (Gambling).

Action

The ad must not appear again in its current form. We told Betfair to ensure that no one who was, or seemed to be, under 25 years old appeared gambling or playing a significant role in their ads going forward.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Non-broadcast)