The United Kingdom’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) identified an ad by Kwiff located proximate to an article featured on the Portsmouth FC official website. The article’s motive was to inspire young enthusiastic fans to become a part of the club’s junior supporter group, the Junior Blues. The operator, in their defense, rejected the claims stating that their digital marketing tools are tuned explicitly to avoid targeting minors, however, The ASA stood its ground, citing the circumstances surrounding the whole situation were enough ground for penalty.
Surge in Marketing Missteps
The ASA’s decision came as a measure in their ongoing campaign to enforce responsible gambling and shield susceptible individuals, especially minors, from potential peril. The watchdog of UK advertising has ramped up their vigilance against gambling operators, in line with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport (DCMS)‘s initiative to assess the nation’s gravity of gambling-related complications.
Online advertising, in particular, poses quite a challenge for the regulatory body, as regulation requires substantial resources for managing such an extensive digital environment. A few days back, The ASA was notified of allegations against high-profile gambling company Coral for supposedly targeting blogs read by new mothers. Despite companies’ efforts to avert such situations, the case in question and the recent Kwiff infraction indicate the urgency for effective governance.
Regulator was Unyielding in its Verdict
Resulting from ASA’s analysis, an ad by Kwiff was found adjacent to an article captioned “Join the Junior Blues,” designed to guide youngsters into Portsmouth FC’s junior supporter clubs. The watchdog argued that, whether wittingly or not, the ad’s positioning made it accessible to people below the age of 18. The situation was further aggravated by the presence of Portsmouth FC’s animated mascot in the article, which jarringly juxtaposed the nearby gambling ad.
The Kwiff trademark operates under the wing of Eaton Gate Gaming, a UK gaming company in its infancy. Eaton Gate disputed the ASA’s sanctions, outright denying allegations of targeting underage audiences. The company emphasized their application of an automated behavioural targeting tool that’s precisely designed to optimize ad revenue while minimizing underage exposure.
Unyielding in their protest of the ASA’s judgment, Eaton Gate maintained that they strictly adhered to the prescribed guidelines and had put adequate measures in place to mitigate such instances. However, the ASA was not swayed by the company’s arguments, stating that the ad’s placement next to content specifically directed at minors, oblivious or not, was adequate grounds for action. ASA did not retract their penalty.
On the grounds that the ad was presented in a context of a webpage… aimed at individuals less than 18 years, it was non-compliant with the guidelines on gambling advertisement
A statement by the UK Advertising Standards Authority
This definitive move by the ASA against Kwiff is a stern admonition to the gambling sector about the necessity of following responsible marketing codes of practice. It serves as a constant reminder that operators must maintain rigor in preventing minors from interacting with or accessing gambling content and routinely scrutinize their promotional campaigns for potential infringements.
