by Hillary LaClair, Senior Editor
In response to the disapproval of many new online poker and gambling advertisements the UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) subsidiaries, the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) and the Broadcast Committee of Advertising (BCAP) have released a new set of guidelines for marketing campaigns to be designed around.
The publication is centered on clauses that are common among television, radio and non-broadcast standards. Essentially the main priority is to ensure that all advertisers are aware that internet poker and gambling campaigns may not suggest that gambling can “provide an escape from personal, educational or professional problems such as loneliness or depression.”
According to the guidelines, “Advertisements should not suggest that gambling can alleviate mental distress and should avoid portraying extreme contrasts in emotion before and after gambling. Advertisements may, however, feature someone in a state of excitement after a win or disappointed after a loss and may suggest that, enjoyed responsibly as a leisure activity, gambling can help relieve boredom.”
The guidelines also explain that adverts are not to portray solo gaming as an activity that is to be enjoyed over social gambling or to associate a game of chance with any traditional or cultural beliefs about luck, including the placement of religious and cultural symbols or horoscopes. It is stressed that some superstitions are allowed to be referenced, such as the four leafed clover.
“These rules are not intended to prevent the depiction of solitary gambling online; they address concerns about people gambling alone. An advertisement that contrasts solitary gambling favorably with social gambling is likely to fall foul of this rule,” the guidelines read.
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