As the UK Gambling Commission tightens their grip on the industry regulations, other organizations follow their example. For instance, the UK Advertising Standard Committees of Advertising Practice, which we’ll just call CAP, is one of them. They have just recently published new standards for advertising of gambling services and they’ll become valid in the beginning of April.
The new standards for various advertisements related to gambling came as a response to problem gambling, which remains an issue despite the continuous efforts of the regulators. As a result, most restrictions reflect the issue and try to target strategies that might cause some cases of problem gambling. The new standards are listed just below.
New Gambling Advertisement Standards
The new measures to control gambling adverts are really thorough and cover a lot of problematic cases. For example, among the many restrictions and standards is the restriction to encourage repetitive play by trivialising gambling. Advertisements that create a sense of urgency by using calls to action like “Play Now!” are also unwanted.
Some rules of prevention will apply, namely an undue emphasis of gambling as a way to make money. Also, applying methods that distort the understanding of risk and control. This latter points specifically targets offers that state to be risk-free while still costing the player, such as ‘Risk-Free Deposit Bonus’.
Finally, new gambling advertisement standards were set to provide information that would further reduce the damage done by harmful adverts. For one thing, more information should be given about problem gambling behaviour and it shouldn’t be depicted like a trivial thing. Also, marketing specialists need to receive more information on protecting vulnerable groups.
A lot of attention has been given to bets and bonuses that the casinos claim to be free. ASA has been receiving many complaints regarding such offers. With the new regulations, we should see promotional terms that are clearer, more easily accessible and understandable. Also, we should no longer see ‘free bonuses’ which are accessible only after a deposit.
Wagering requirements don’t satisfy CAP either and some casinos have already decided to continue without them. A similar practice of cashback offers was deemed problematic too. These will no longer be legal if they offer bonus money rather than real cash.
Advertising Doesn’t Increase Problematic Gambling
These standards weren’t created out of thin air. The related committees and associations conducted researches to find out the role of advertising in gambling and problematic behaviour. Surprisingly, they concluded that this role isn’t significant at all. It turns out that the cases of problem gambling remained relatively static even during the periods of more intense and numerous gambling advertising campaigns.
However, this didn’t stop CAP from enacting the new gambling advertisement standards. According to their official comments, the evidence does reveal a relation between adverts and irresponsible gambling. Even if the overall impact is small, it’s was still worth addressing. As a result, the new rules aim to deal with all the potential harm from these marketing practices completely.
Here at Fortune Frenzy, we welcome all efforts to make gambling safer and employ higher standards in its relation to the society and individual players. We will take care to assess our marketing strategies to conform to the new standards if need be and we hope that each player at Fortune Frenzy will feel more empowered and secure than ever before.
