ASA Adjudication on Spreadex Ltd

Ad

A regional press ad, for shortsandlongs.com, showed a confident looking man sitting between two glamorous women. The headline stated "We believe all traders deserve privileges … which is why we offer: Free guaranteed stops". The ad also stated "And that's not the only privilege you'll find at ShortsandLongs.com … They're just business as usual - just a small part of our commitment to make spread betting more rewarding".

Issue

The complainant objected that the ad was irresponsible and glamorised gambling because it:

1. referred to gamblers as "traders", and

2. implied that gambling made men more attractive to women.

CAP Code

Response

Spreadex Ltd said the ad and the Shorts and Longs service was governed by the Financial Services Authority (FSA).   They said Shorts and Longs allowed clients to place trades whilst being aware of what their maximum exposure might be.  They pointed out that one aspect of conventional spread betting was that clients' winnings and losses were open ended as they lost a multiple of their stake. Spreadex said their service was intended to cap losses by insisting guaranteed stock levels at the predefined level, which avoided running up losses.  They believed the Shorts and Longs service was highly responsible especially in light of present market volatility.

1. Spreadex pointed out that their transactions were not referred to as 'bets' but were in fact contracts for difference.  They maintained that many of their clients were sophisticated investors who used the service as an investment tool to hedge many of their risks. They therefore considered that the description of their clients as "traders" was appropriate given the nature of the product with thich they dealt. Spreadex also pointed out that the ad appeared in the City AM newspaper, which was targeted at a business audience.

2. Spreadex did not agree that the ad implied that gambling made men more attractive to women.

Assessment

1. Not upheld

The ASA noted the ad was for a financial spread betting service, which was stated in the body copy. We understood that clients entered into transactions that were governed under the terms of Financial Services and Market Act 2000.  We noted the word "trader" was a common term to describe individuals involved in certain areas of the financial services sector, in particular the trading of financial instruments.  We considered that readers were likely to understand the nature of the Shorts and Longs service as a gambling product, because it specifically referred to "spread betting" in the body copy.  Consequently, we considered that they were likely to understand the term "traders" merely in the context of an ad for a gambling product that was strongly related to a particular area of the financial services sector. We therefore concluded that the ad did not breach the Code.

On this point, we investigated the ad under CAP Code clauses 2.2 (Responsible advertising), 57.2 and 57.4 f) (Gambling) but did not find it in breach.

2. Upheld

We noted the ad featured an image of what we considered to be a confident-looking man sitting between two glamorous women.  We noted the women were touching the man's arms intimately and considered that readers were likely to infer from the ad that one of the "rewards" of success with spread betting was enhanced attractiveness and increased sexual success with the opposite sex.  We concluded that the ad irresponsibly linked gambling with sexual success and enhanced attractiveness.

On this point, the ad breached CAP Code clauses 2.2 (Responsible advertising), 57.2, 57.4 f) and 57.4 h) (Gambling).

Action

The ad must not appear again in its current form.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Non-broadcast)