UK Operators Dealt A Further Blow By Advertising Standards Authority

The media tide in the UK appears to have been turning of late. An increasing flow of bad press for gambling operators has emerged over the last few months, with a new narrative around casinos and bookmakers beginning to sweep through some publications.

September’s Labour Party conference took things a stage further, after the opposition party’s deputy leader, Tom Watson, likened the health risks of gambling to smoking. Despite the astonishing hyperbole, there is no doubt that attitudes towards gambling, at least in some quarters in the UK, appear to be hardening in addition to a new gambling tax policy.

As the saying goes, it never rains but it pours. This week has seen UK operators hit with a double whammy of bad publicity, both for activities online and offline. The latest victim has been Ladbrokes Coral Group, who were taken to task for affiliate content around their products.

The content in question was an advertorial, similar to the complaint a month earlier that saw 888 Holdings, Ladbrokes, Sky Betting and Casumo face the wrath of the regulator. Irrespective of the content being created by a third party, the companies were all held directly responsible for the messaging.

Advertorials can in some cases prove misleading, and the specific example dealt with by the ASA probably goes a bit too far into misdirecting potential customers. A time tested story – a man called William in and above his head with debt, sick family members, and a depressed life chooses to gamble online, wins 30x his annual salary in a single spin, and voila, a problem free life.

The ASA specifically upheld elements of the complaints that dealt with identifying the advertorial content as advertising, and agreed that the story, framed like a news report, was not well-enough sign posted as to its commercial intent.

In the present case, Gala Bingo said they didn’t create the content, and had identifying and terminated the contract with the specific affiliate in question. No matter – the ASA said Gala was responsible for the content and its messaging, and that it should take measures to ensure this doesn’t happen again.

In their own right, these decisions are difficult for operators to work with, and clearly affiliates do have degrees of separation between the companies they promote. These rulings are already having a bearing on some casino and bookmaker affiliate programmes, and this could result in dramatic changes in gambling marketing through affiliates in future.

But the problems for the industry this week didn’t stop there. The Industry Group for Responsible Gambling has published a new report, which has identified shortcomings in how operators represent the message of responsible gambling to their customers.

Specifically the report spoke of the lack of creativity in responsible gambling messaging, with leaflets and reading materials lengthy and boring, versus highly creative, engaging marketing promotions.

Remarkably, there was even criticism of some interactions with staff in physical gambling outlets, with remarks about ‘lucky chairs’ or ‘lucky streaks’ being interpreted as running counter to the responsible gambling obligations on operators.

Taken together in the current climate, none of this looks to be good news for UK operators. The government’s latest report on the industry is due for publication next month, and in some quarters, it’s expected to make for unpleasant reading. If the current raft of media stories and general negative press for the industry is anything to go by, it looks like the UK might be taking its first small steps towards rolling back on its comparatively pro-gambling outlook of the last decade or so.

Considered one of the more mature, liberal markets for gambling in Europe, this would be a real shame, not to mention to the detriment of companies, jobs, and the millions of individuals across the UK who enjoy gambling responsibly on a regular basis. While operators obviously need to remain clear about their marketing, their responsible gambling messaging, and their approach to customer interactions, the ongoing victimisation of gambling operators needs to come to an end.