ASA Announces Ruling On William Hill Over Tinder Advert
The Advertising Standards Authority have announced their decision regarding a complaint over a William Hill advert that appeared on the dating application Tinder.
William Hill paid for a message to be sent to Tinder users on the 11th of March 2019 that said, “Stuck in the friend zone? You won’t be for much longer if you use this Cheltenham free bet offer”, before encouraging users to click a link and place a bet using the William Hill app.
The complaint was based around the notion that the advert seemed to link sexual prowess and success with gambling, which goes against the ASA’s code. The CAP Code says that any marketing communications sent out by gambling companies need to offer a sense of social responsibility and therefore should make a link between gambling and sexual success or the idea of being more attractive, which the advert was accused of doing.
The ASA upheld the complaint for a breach of rules 16.3 and 16.3.8 of the CAP Code.
ASA Unhappy With Advert’s Suggestion
The ASA were clear in their criticism of WHG (International) Ltd, suggesting that there was a clear link implied between gambling and the ability to move a relationship from one between friends to one of a sexual nature. This meant that the paid-for advert by the bookmakers ‘linked gambling with sexual success’, which went against the rules on the matter.
Rule 16.3.8 of the CAP Code says that adverts are not allowed to ‘link gambling to seduction, sexual success or enhanced attractiveness’. This is because the idea of being ‘stuck in the friend zone’ has a specific meaning in modern parlance, namely to be seen as a platonic partner by someone and therefore unable to move the relationship to one of a sexual nature.
William Hill’s suggestion that gambling would move someone out of the ‘friend zone’ was therefore always like to draw criticism.
Hill’s Initially Disputed Claim But Then Accepted It
William Hill’s initial response to the criticism sent its way was to defend the advert, suggesting that it asked customers to enter a relationship with them as a bookmaker rather than implied that other people would find users sexually attractive.
The idea was to link their firm with the business of dating via the app in question, Tinder. Tinder is known as an app used by some to achieve casual sex with others, though long-term relationships have also been known to blossom out of it.
Whilst the company claimed that it was never intended to make a link between gambling and sexual attractiveness, they did accept the criticism and took the advert down voluntarily. They released a statement saying, “We take on board what the ASA have said about this particular advert and have removed it from circulation”.
Quite whether that was because the advert had served its purpose by that point, given that it was specifically aimed at attracting bettors for the Cheltenham Festival, is unclear, but the company’s decision to take the advert down did demonstrate a sense of responsibility.
ASA Clamping Down On Gambling Adverts
The decision by the ASA to criticise William Hill comes at a time when the organisation is being seen to clamp down on gambling adverts that they feel do not stick to the spirit of the CAP Code.
Early in May, for example, the ASA chose to ban an advert for a Monopoly-themed casino that used the character Rich Uncle Pennybags because it was felt that it might appeal to children. The advert appeared on the Mirror Online website and was felt to make gambling appear interesting to young people because of the links between the much-loved board game and the ability to bet.
That came on the back of an advert featuring Ryan Giggs’ brother Rhodri by Paddy Power also being banned. That was on account of the fact that it was believed to be glamourising betting and suggesting that it might be a way to achieve a rich lifestyle, given that the Wales manager and former Manchester United player’s brother was seen living in a nice house and driving an expensive car.
The advert saw the man whose wife cheated on him with his brother for years telling people that ‘loyalty was dead’ and encouraging them to join a new scheme by Paddy Power.
William Hill Also Rapped For Spurs Tweet
May has not been a good month for William Hill, given that the company has also come under fire from the Advertising Standards Authority because of a tweet that Tottenham Hotspur posted just before their match against Borussia Dortmund on the 5th of March. The Spurs Twitter account posted a photograph of its line-up along with a link to William Hill offering their ‘latest odds’.
The issue for the ASA was that the starting line-up featured both Harry Winks and Davinson Sanchez in the starting eleven, both of whom are under 25.
The CAP Code is clear that nobody under the age of 25 should feature in any marketing communications released on behalf of a gambling advert, which that did. The Code says that pictures featuring anyone under the age of 25 must be in a non-gambling context, such as playing football, and can only be somewhere that a bet can be placed, like the operator’s own website.
William Hill Ordered Not To Release Advert Again
The action employed by the Advertising Standards Authority was to inform WHG (International) Ltd that the advert could not appear again in the form that the complaint had been about. It doesn’t mean that they can’t advertise on Tinder in the future but any advert has to avoid the link between gambling and sexual prowess.
It is likely that more William Hill adverts will appear on the dating app in the future, given that Tinder themselves reviewed the advert before it was published but didn’t think that it was offensive or socially irresponsible, nor was it felt that it targeted minors and therefore they had no problem with it. Others certainly did, with
Dr. Alan Smith, the Bishop of St. Alban’s, declaring himself ‘speechless’ over the matter and saying that betting companies seemed to be operating on a ‘don’t get caught’ mentality.
