Spin Genie ad banned for appealing to under 18s

Gaming Realms brand Spin Genie said it had “zero interest” in appealing to under 18s after the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) banned one of its TV adverts over fears it could appeal to underage players.

The advert included a voiceover poem and showed a gold coin smashing into the ground in a desert oasis, exploding into small casino icons, and then moving into a cave where jewels and treasure items were shown.

One complainant challenged whether the advert appealed to under 18s and raised similar concerns over the Spin Genie homepage, which featured a cartoon dog and games like Fluffy Favourites and Jack and the Beanstalk.

In its response, Spin Genie said the advert was broadcast after the watershed and only shown during ad breaks for programs indexed as having an adult audience while the Spin character had been deliberately drawn to avoid Disney-style imagery that would have attracted children.

And Ad clearing agency Clearcast said it had worked closely with Spin Genie and that the advert had been carefully considered to ensure it had general appeal rather than particular appeal to under 18s.

But in its ruling the ASA said the language, music, sound effects and imagery in the ad would likely appeal to under 18s and was therefore irresponsible.

“The ad was approved by Clearcast, so we followed all of the appropriate processes, [but] we fully accept the ASA’s ruling on the advert, [and] on this occasion we got it wrong,” Simon Smiley, Spin Genie CMO, told eGaming Review.

“Appealing to youth is of zero interest to us both commercially and ethically,” Smiley added.

“We have taken on board all of the facts of the ASA ruling and we are working on a new creative direction based on their feedback,” he added.

The watchdog also noted that the games featured on the Spin Genie homepage “would be familiar with children and young persons” and also breached the advertising standards code.

Spin Genie was told the advert must not run again in its current form and that future ads must not appeal particularly to under 18s.

The Spin Genie ad was one of three investigated by the ASA over the issue of appealing to underage players, with complaints that adverts by Paddy Power and Foxy Bingo also appealed to under 18s not upheld.