Genting penalised for Chegwin tweet
ASA rules that message from former Saturday Superstore presenter was not clearly identified as promotional material.
A tweet from television personality Keith Chegwin has seen Genting Alderney’s sweepstakes brand partner Publishers Clearing House (PCH) cautioned by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).
The watchdog deemed that a message sent from Chegwin’s (pictured) Twitter account could be misconstrued as a marketing communication, yet was not clearly identified as such “ despite the fact that PCH claimed that the TV presenter had tweeted without its prior knowledge or consent.
Despite the ongoing promotional relationship between Chegwin and PCH, the ASA said, it was unclear that he was tweeting on the company’s behalf and was therefore “not obviously identifiable as a PCH marketing communication.”
As a result, the authority has ruled that such promotional material must not be carried out in future, and that PCH must clearly identify its promotional material as such.
Chegwin, who rose to fame presenting popular programmes such as Saturday Superstore and Cheggers Plays Pop, has promoted PCH since 2011, and features prominently on the site’s homepage and official promotional material. The presenter previously operated his own bingo site, Cheggers Bingo, using St Minver technology, before the site was shut down last year.
PCH is an American sweepstakes operator, founded in the 1950s, which partnered with Genting, to launch a UK-facing offering.