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ASA Ruling on WHG Trading & WHG (International) Ltd

WHG Trading & WHG (International) Ltd t/a William Hill Online

6/1 Waterport Place
Gibraltar

Date:

26 June 2013

Media:

Television

Sector:

Leisure

Number of complaints:

2

Agency:

Beattie McGuinness Bungay Ltd

Complaint Ref:

A13-226736

Ad

A TV ad for William Hill Live Casino opened with a close-up of a woman who opened her eyes and looked at the camera. The camera panned out then down, past the model's chest to a roulette wheel. She was wearing a basque-style top. The ad then showed a ball spinning around the roulette wheel and cut to a scene showing a large pile of gambling chips being pushed towards the viewer. The ad then showed playing cards and gambling chips flying through the air. The voice-over said, "Experience a live casino like no other" and the ad then showed several female croupiers in gold basque-type tops and male croupiers wearing suits.

Issue

The Gambling Reform and Society Perception Group (GRASP) and one other complainant challenged whether the ad linked gambling to seduction.

BCAP Code

Response

WHG Trading & WHG (International) Ltd t/a William Hill Online said they did not believe the ad made any claims or connotations that gambling increased a consumer's sexual success or enhanced their attractiveness; neither did it make a link between gambling and seductiveness. They said the ad was only shown after 9pm.

The advertiser said the ad was filmed in a studio that recreated their Live Casino facility which matched as close as possible the experience a consumer would find in a London Mayfair casino. They said that all actors were over 25 years of age. William Hill Online said the clothing worn by the male and female dealers were the actual uniforms worn by staff in their live casino and were standard for such a casino style, similar to those in other high profile casinos. They said the uniforms were tasteful, professional and reflected the feedback from their staff.

Clearcast said they considered the ad was a slightly stylised portrayal of what customers actually saw when playing online and the dealers were representative of those found on the site. They said that because the ad did not show anyone gambling there could be no link to seduction, sexual success or enhanced attractiveness.

Assessment

Upheld

The ASA acknowledged that William Hill Online did not think the ad linked gambling with seduction. However, we noted the ad began with a close-up of a woman's eyes looking up from a gambling table and directly into the camera lens, which panned out from the woman's face while maintaining focus on her eyes. We considered the focus on her eyes was used to engage the viewer which could be interpreted as a signal of attraction. We also considered that as the camera panned down over the female croupier's décolletage, this enhanced the sense of seduction, which was further reinforced by the uniforms worn by all of the female croupiers. We understood that the basque-style tops were identical to those worn by the actual croupiers. However, we did not consider this to be a suitable justification for using them in the ad or showing sensual areas of the women's body.

We noted Clearcast's assertion that the ad did not show anyone gambling and so there was no link with seduction. However, we considered that it was clearly a gambling ad because of the roulette and black jack tables, playing cards and gambling chip visuals and the references to "casino" in the voice-over and on-screen text.

Because the ad opened with an engaging shot of the croupier's eyes, showed sensual areas of the women's body and because of the style of outfit worn, we concluded the ad linked gambling to seduction, which was a breach of the Code.

The ad breached BCAP Code rules 17.3 and 17.3.7 (Gambling).

Action

The ad must not appear again in its current form.

How to comply with the rules

For advice and training on the Advertising Codes please visit the CAP website.

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