Ad description

A website for an online gambling site Starspins, www.starspins.com, seen on 12 September 2015. The page titled “Refer a Friend & Get £20” included a text box that stated "REFER A FRIEND And Get £20*" and "*T&Cs apply" in small font. Text below the box stated "Refer a Friend Enjoying your Starspins experience? Tell your friends about us and for each one that joins, you'll get £20! It gets even better- you can refer as many friends as you like! Once they join, make a minimum £10 deposit and play through £40 wagering requirement (playing on slots games contribute 5% towards the wagering requirement), you'll earn a fantastic £20. Whilst your friend can also enjoy our amazing 200% Welcome Bonus - deposit £20 and get £60 to play! Refer today!". A button that stated “REFER A FRIEND” was featured underneath the text. Clicking on the link “*Terms and Conditions” below the button revealed the terms and conditions of the offer.

Issue

The complainant, who understood that in order for the referrer to receive the £20 bonus, the friend being referred would need to wager a total of £800 on slots games, challenged whether the ad was misleading.

Response

Profitable Play Ltd t/a Starspins.com stated that the “Refer a Friend” offer rewarded a customer, or referrer, who had successfully referred another player, or referee, to Starspins.com. A successful referral would be complete if the referee made a deposit of a minimum of £10 and played through the applicable wagering requirements.

Starspins.com stated that wagering requirements, which would need to be completed before bonus related cash winnings could be withdrawn, applied to all bonus offers on gambling websites as an industry standard, differentiating a bonus from a cash reward. They also stated that it was industry standard for different games to contribute different amounts towards the wagering requirements. On the Starspins.com website, 5% of each wager on slots games would contribute towards the £40 wagering requirement, which was equivalent to a player wagering through £800. They said that that was not an uncommon amount in relation to the fulfilment of wagering requirements for slots and casino games.

Starspins.com believed that significant terms of the offer were clearly set out within the ad and the full terms and conditions of the offer, including full details of the wagering requirements, were set out directly below the significant terms.

Starspins.com stated that in between the time the complainant saw the ad and before the complaint was brought to their attention, they made amendments to the wording of the ad and also to the offer terms and conditions, so that the wagering requirements were made even more explicit.

Assessment

Upheld

The ASA noted that information about the wagering requirement was included in the body copy of the ad as well as the terms and conditions, which contained an example that illustrated the proportion of a £10 wager that would contribute towards a “£40 wagering requirement”, and which were one click away.

We considered that some players would be familiar with the concept of wagering requirements that were similar to those for the Refer A Friend offer and that those who clicked on the terms and conditions would have seen information that allowed them to calculate the total amount they would need to wager in order to satisfy the “£40 wagering requirement”. However, the only type of game available on Starspins.com was slots, which meant that the total amount that every referee would need to wager to meet a “£40 wagering requirement” was £800.

We considered that the obligation on referees to wager £800 was a significant condition that was likely to influence referrers’ decisions or understanding of the offer. Because the way in which the wagering requirements had been set out would require further calculation, rather than the total amount being clearly stated, we considered that ambiguity had been created regarding the extent to which the referee must wager. We therefore concluded that the ad was likely to mislead.

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),  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 in its current form again. We told Starspins.com to ensure significant conditions, such as wagering requirements, were clearly explained in the future.

CAP Code (Edition 12)

3.1     3.3     8.17     8.17.1    


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