Background

Summary of Council decision:

Two issues were investigated, of which one was Not upheld and one was Upheld.

Ad description

Text in a promotion on gambling website www.spinpalace.co.uk stated "£1000 FREE. 1st deposit - 100% Match Bonus. 2nd deposit - 25% Match Bonus. 3rd deposit - 50% Match Bonus". The text was followed by a "More info" button.

Issue

A complainant challenged whether the promotion was misleading, because it did not:

1. make sufficiently clear that the welcome bonus would be credited automatically (meaning that the player was then under the terms of the offer) when a new player deposited £20 or more; and

2. make sufficiently clear that players were required to wager their Welcome Bonus 50 times before any winnings could be withdrawn.

Response

Spinpalace.com acknowledged receipt of the complaint but supplied no substantive response to the ASA's enquiries.

Assessment

1. Not upheld

The ASA considered that the bonus offer was the focus of the ad and that it was clear that, by playing, respondents would receive a 100% match bonus on their first deposit. Therefore, notwithstanding the concerns expressed in point 2 below about the location of the conditions, we considered that it was clear to consumers that the ad promoted an offer and that, by taking it up, they were likely to be subject to the conditions that were attached to it. Because of that, we concluded that the ad was not misleading on this point.

On point 1, we investigated the ad under CAP Code (Edition 12) rules  3.1 3.1 Marketing communications must not materially mislead or be likely to do so.  and  3.3 3.3 Marketing communications must not mislead the consumer by omitting material information. They must not mislead by hiding material information or presenting it in an unclear, unintelligible, ambiguous or untimely manner.
Material information is information that the consumer needs to make informed decisions in relation to a product. Whether the omission or presentation of material information is likely to mislead the consumer depends on the context, the medium and, if the medium of the marketing communication is constrained by time or space, the measures that the marketer takes to make that information available to the consumer by other means.
 (Misleading advertising) but did not find it in breach.

2. Upheld

No further details of the offer were given in the ad itself. Text that was two clicks away, however, stated "The Welcome Bonus is then subject to 50 times playthrough before it may be withdrawn". We considered it was crucial to consumers' understanding of the offer that they would have to wager their Welcome Bonus 50 times before any winnings could be withdrawn as cash. We considered that condition was so significant that it needed to be presented clearly in the ad itself. Because it was not, we concluded that the promotion was misleading.

On point 2, the ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules  3.1 3.1 Marketing communications must not materially mislead or be likely to do so.  and  3.3 3.3 Marketing communications must not mislead the consumer by omitting material information. They must not mislead by hiding material information or presenting it in an unclear, unintelligible, ambiguous or untimely manner.
Material information is information that the consumer needs to make informed decisions in relation to a product. Whether the omission or presentation of material information is likely to mislead the consumer depends on the context, the medium and, if the medium of the marketing communication is constrained by time or space, the measures that the marketer takes to make that information available to the consumer by other means.
 (Misleading advertising),  3.9 3.9 Marketing communications must state significant limitations and qualifications. Qualifications may clarify but must not contradict the claims that they qualify.  and  3.10 3.10 Qualifications must be presented clearly.
CAP has published a Help Note on Claims that Require Qualification.
 (Qualification),  8.2 8.2 Promoters must conduct their promotions equitably, promptly and efficiently and be seen to deal fairly and honourably with participants and potential participants. Promoters must avoid causing unnecessary disappointment.  (Sales promotions) and  8.17 8.17 All marketing communications or other material referring to promotions must communicate all applicable significant conditions or information where the omission of such conditions or information is likely to mislead. Significant conditions or information may, depending on the circumstances, include:  and  8.17.1 8.17.1 How to participate
How to participate, including significant conditions and costs, and other major factors reasonably likely to influence consumers' decision or understanding about the promotion
 (Significant conditions for promotions).

Action

The ad must not appear again in its current form. We told Spinpalace.com to ensure that ads stated all the material information that the consumer would need to make informed decisions in relation to future bonus offers.

CAP Code (Edition 12)

3.1     3.10     3.3     3.9     8.17     8.17.1     8.2    


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