The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has banned ads from five
social casino brands after they implied players could win and withdraw real-world money from their games.
SpinX Games Ltd, Dataverse Co Limited, Huuuge Global Limited, Mobee Co Ltd and Zeroo Gravity Games LLC all had their ads banned by the regulator.
All of the scrutinised ads were paid-for marketing on the social media app TikTok and failed to make clear they were social casino games, misleading consumers into thinking they could win real-world money.
For instance, Zeroo Gravity Games’ Cash Tornado app featured imagery of slot gameplay with matching sound effects. The ASA also ruled that the use of language such as “hitting the jackpot” were associated with gambling and could subsequently be misinterpreted by bettors.
All five were found to have breached the UK Code of Non-broadcast Advertising and Direct & Promotional Marketing (CAP Code). In particular, rule 3.1, which states marketing communications must not “materially mislead”, as well as 3.3 which clarifies ads must not mislead by omitting material information.
Additionally, Mobee was deemed to have breached rule 1.7, after not responding to ASA enquiries. The body flagged this as “apparent disregard” for the CAP Code, seen as an unreasonable delay to the ASA’s enquiries.
In all five cases, the ASA banned the ads from appearing in their current form while warning the companies to ensure they did not imply customers could win real-world money or other tangible prizes from social casino games.
The ASA’s crackdown on social casino ads
The banning of these ads is part of the ASA’s wider work on paid-for gambling ads flagged for investigation. It says rules prohibiting ads from misleading customers are clear.
TikTok has also pointed to its own restrictions on advertising social casino games, including a ban on content involving direct comparisons to gambling or implying that players can win real money.
As a result of breaching its policies, TikTok removed all of the ads in questions from its platform.
Away from social casino games, bookmaker Geoff Banks Online was warned by the ASA back in July over a misleading promotion that stipulated bettors had to reply to a text to qualify for a promotion, with no reference to that condition in the ad.
