888 ad banned for linking gambling and sex
ASA upholds viewer complaint over implied link between gambling and seduction.
888’s latest Poker Cams television advertisement has been banned by the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA), after a single viewer complained that the ad “linked gambling with seduction and sexual success.”
The offending advert featured a player using the Poker Cam feature on 888 Poker to interact with a number of people including a group of three girls and a woman lying by a swimming pool in a bikini, with a voiceover telling players “You never know who you might meet at a poker cam table.”
The viewer questioned whether the shots of the women linked gambling to sexual prowess, which 888 countered by saying the advert was designed to highlight the social and “purely platonic” nature of Poker Cams. It noted that some of the actors featured were attractive, but claimed this was to highlight the diverse range of players using the service.
The operator went on to argue that the woman in the bikini was featured to highlight the fact that Poker Cams are “fully interactive, instant and not affected by time zones.”
The ASA noted that it accepted 888’s aim of highlighting how versatile and interactive Poker Cams could be, and agreed that it was acceptable to feature attractive people in advertising without automatically implying a link between sexual success and gambling.
However, it concluded the voiceover and interaction between the players did imply a link between the two, and was therefore in breach of the ASA code.
This follows the banning of three 888 ads last year, including a Facebook banner ad which was deemed to encourage irresponsible gambling.