The UK’s Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) has today (11 December) cleared Betfair over a radio advert for its ‘Prize Pinball’ free-to-play promotion after a complainant challenged whether it had been “inappropriately” broadcast at a time children could hear.
A single complainant contacted the ASA over the Betfair advert that was broadcast on Radio X on 3 September. This focused on the timing of the advert and whether it may have been heard by children.
Befair advert was targeted at over-25s
Responding to the complaint, PPB Entertainment, the branch of Flutter Entertainment that oversees Betfair, denied the claims. It said the ad was cleared by Radiocentre, the industry organisation for commercial radio, prior to broadcast.
Radiocentre guidance states gambling adverts should not run on stations aimed at under-18s. It considers Radio X not in this category, with third-party research showing 88% of its audience is over 25.
PPB Entertainment also said the ad featured during the weekday morning ‘The Chris Moyles Show’. As Moyles previously presented the same show on BBC Radio 1, PPB said it is likely his audience will have followed him to Radio X, with many being over 18.
On top of this, PPB said it programmatically targeted the ad to listeners aged 25 or over. This was done by targeting listeners registered as 25 or older on their mobile phone or device. The advert was not broadcast on linear radio. Radio Joint Audience Research (RAJAR) figures for the period when the ads were broadcast were provided to support this.
PPB also said Radiocentre cleared the Betfair advert with its scheduling advice. This saw PPB provide a script beforehand to ensure the advert met the relevant guidelines.
ASA sides with PPB and Betfair
In its evaluation, the ASA considered this response. It also took into account the UK Code of Broadcast Advertising (BCAP Code), which states timing restrictions must be applied to ads that may harm children. Online gambling is among the subjects within this category.
The ASA highlighted how the complainant heard the advert on a smart speaker. This means they would have registered as being over 25, with the targeted advert reaching them due to this.
However, the ASA said people under 18 may have also been listening at the time, seeing as it was a weekday morning before school. As such, it deemed it necessary to assess the RAJAR figures for this period.
Upon inspection, RAJAR figures showed the under-18 segment comprised a low proportion of listeners at the time. Just 6% were under the age of 18, while 88% were over 25. With this, it agreed that the scheduling advice given by Radiocentre was appropriate.
Based on this, the ASA ruled that the advert did not breach BCAP Code Rules 1.2 on social responsibility or 32.3 for scheduling. It cleared PPB and Betfair of any wrongdoing over the matter.
