On July 11 and 12, 2023, XLMedia posted an Instagram ad showcasing an image of Mason Mount, a professional midfielder representing Chelsea at the time, engaged in playing soccer.

The soccer player, who has since been transferred to Manchester United, was 24 years old when the respective ad was made public. 

Two complaints were issued in relation to the ad, primarily trying to establish whether it had breached Committees of Advertising Practice (CAP) Code regulations which specify that individuals who are under the age of 25 should not be featured significantly in marketing communications in relation to gambling services. 

There is an exception to this rule and it covers those cases when betting can be directly placed via transactional facilities. 

ASA’s Ruling Explained 

Since the nature of the ad was to promote engagement with gambling services and Mount’s image of playing soccer played a critical role in conveying the message, the ASA came to the conclusion that XLMedia breached the CAP Code (Edition 12) rule 1.3 (Social responsibility).

While FreeBetsDotCom is a platform that aggregates sports betting offers from different providers and facilitates gamblers’ interactions with their favorite gambling services, it does not offer gambling services on its own. 

Nonetheless, the regulator still ruled that XLMedia acted irresponsibly when it decided to feature a soccer player who is under 25 years old playing and give him an important role in the ad. 

As a consequence, the ASA decided that the perspective ad with Mount at the center should no longer be publicly displayed in its original form. 

XLMedia has also been advised to refrain from using the images of individuals who are under the age of 25 in similarly important positions within their marketing communications for services used to lead consumers to have interactions with gambling services. 

CAP’s Compliance team has also been asked to take further action.

Unreasonable Delay Rule Also Breached 

In spite of initiating an official inquiry into the potential violation of these advertising guidelines, XLMedia, which is the parent company of FreeBetsDotCom, failed to offer a response. 

This automatically prompted additional concerns regarding a breach of the ASA Code (Edition 12) rule 1.7 which speaks about Unreasonable delay. 

The UK’s regulator of advertising that applies all Ad Codes written by the CAP emphasized the necessity that companies provide timely replies while further strengthening the idea that they should closely adhere to this requirement during future interactions.

Last week, the same regulator ruled that Postcode Lottery’s ad in the Daily Mail breached advertising regulations. In August, the ASA backed William Hill in an ad ruling regarding retired professional soccer player Robbie Savage.

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An ad that featured the famous YouTube star and boxer, Jake Paul, captured the attention of the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), the UK’s regulator in charge of advertising. In a post on Twitter from February, the leading betting and gaming operator, Ladbrokes, submitted a poll asking the audience to predict what can Paul expect after he lost a fight due to a split decision against Tommy Fury.

In the post, Ladbrokes wrote: “TommyTNTFury beat JakePaul by split decision last night. So, we’ve got to ask the question… What’s next for Jake Paul? Vote here now [downward pointing finger emoji].” Then, at the bottom of the post, the operator submitted a poll with the options: “Win the re-match”, “Head to the MMA”, “Return to YouTube”, and “Join the WWE.”

In light of the post, the ASA sought to determine if Ladbrokes used a personality that may appeal strongly to customers under the legal gambling age which is 18. Under the current gambling advertising regulations, restrictions are implemented that seek to prevent any gambling operator from using images, personalities, faces or other methods in ads that can appeal to anyone under the legal gambling age.

The Ad Was Irresponsible, Says the Authority

Upon reviewing the ad, the ASA explained that the CAP Code clearly prohibits any communications for gambling products from being appealing to children. Despite boxers being a part of a sport that is mostly adult-oriented, the ASA said that such personalities can be considered as a “moderate risk in terms of how likely they were to be of strong appeal to under-18s.”

The Authority explained that Paul has a strong presence within multiple social media platforms with some of his followers under the legal gambling age. Approximately 3 million people were registered under the age of 18 as followers of the boxing star via TikTok and YouTube. Despite that, an overwhelming majority of his fans remain within the legal age, said the ASA.

Still, given Paul’s strong presence on social media and his participation in a TV program called Bizaardvark between 2016 and 2018, the ASA concluded that the “ad was irresponsible and breached the Code.” As a result, the Authority urged Ladbrokes not to include persons or characters that may have an appeal to persons under 18 and said that the ad “must not appear again in its current form.”

Once Ladbrokes was aware of the ASA’s probe, the company said that the ad didn’t offer any promotions or links to its website. Additionally, the operator argued that its feed on Twitter is protected by a restriction that doesn’t allow anyone under the age of 18 to access it. The operator said that upon posting the poll it was aware that Paul didn’t have a “significant role in boxing or general profile within the sport,” making him more appealing to audiences that are over the legal gambling age.

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