According to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), the recent advertisement of the William Hill Casino shown on Tinder, the popular dating app during the Cheltenham Festival, has violated the Committees Advertising Practice (CAP) Code.
In the ad sent as a message to the dating app users, they said: “Stuck in the friend zone? You won’t be for much longer if you use this Cheltenham free bet offer.” The advertisement offers a bonus code for four free bets. The message was followed by a link allowing to download the William Hill application.
As required by the CAP Code, marketing communications for gambling should be socially responsible. Any links to enhanced attractiveness, sexual success or seduction are prohibited. According to the ASA direction, the William Hill ad must not appear again. In the future, the casino should not use the ad in such a form that links gambling to sexual success.
Initially, after a client complains, the casino defended the ad. They explained it was supposed to allude to the relationship between customers and the casino. Finally, the casino administration agreed the ad could have been misinterpreted. As a result, they took it down voluntarily.
