On 4 June we published an Enforcement Notice: Gambling ads with strong appeal to under-18s. The Notice directed advertisers to recent rulings by the ASA in this area. It highlighted key elements of the rulings that should be taken into account when preparing and publishing paid-for and non-paid-for gambling ads on social media including 'advertising’ posts by gambling operators through their own social media accounts, i.e. content marketing.

The notice makes clear that gambling ads that are likely to be of strong appeal to under-18s, in breach of CAP Code rule 16.3.12, should not appear. The Notice, which was served immediately before the FIFA World Cup, made clear that we would conduct proactive monitoring and carry out enforcement action from Thursday 11 June to ensure advertisers were following the rules.

In four weeks, we have reviewed nearly 10,000 individual pieces of content. We have picked up on isolated incidents of non-compliance and have taken these issues up directly with seven advertisers. All 36 problem ads we captured have been removed.

The ads that we identified as being clearly in breach of the rulings and guidance on preventing strong appeal in gambling ads included:

  • Imagery of England or international ‘star’ players with wording about their performance in a match, or their lack of inclusion in the team. 
  • Fan interviews, involving fans wearing national team football shirts.
  • Content that identifies a stadium where a World Cup game is being held.
  • A club sponsor including one of the international club players in the club's kit.

Encouragingly, we have noted advertisers taking steps to limit the likelihood of their ads being of strong appeal to under-18s by:

  • Using generic depiction of people who aren’t footballers.
  • Hiding/blurring logos on football fan shirts to make them less identifiable.

We are strongly advising advertisers to take caution when using imagery in their ads, to ensure that gambling ads are not likely to be of strong appeal to under-18s.

As we look to final weekend of the World Cup we will continue to actively monitor this space, using our AI-powered Active Ad Monitoring system to undertake sweeps at pace and scale. Advertisers should not run the risk of penalties including referral to the Gambling Commission.

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