The Health Lottery condoned ‘socially irresponsible’ gambling, rules ASA
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has banned an ad by the Health Lottery after it ruled the game condoned “socially irresponsible” or “harmful” gambling.
The ad, which appeared on the Demand 5 video-on-demand service, promoted an online direct debit offer for the Health Lottery, which offered consumers their first two weeks play ‘free’, if they signed up online and paid for their tickets monthly.
A voice over stated: "That's right, we'll pay for up to 40 lines played each draw, giving you an incredible £160 money back on us. And you'll never miss another draw again.”
The Health Lottery said their player protection measures prevent direct debit and online players from buying more than 40 tickets per draw. As there were two draws per week, the maximum spend was £320 per month (where a month was calculated as four weeks). The direct debit offer of two weeks free play therefore meant the maximum refund was £160.
The Health Lottery added that the ad “was not intended” to encourage excessive play, but to reflect that players who purchased 40 entries per draw qualified for the refund.
In its ruling the ASA decided the voice-over and visuals in the ad “established an upbeat tone” and focused on the maximum return of £160, which required a commitment of £320. The watchdog said that this emphasis was likely to encourage consumers who would not normally have spent £40 on twice weekly draws to spend more than they otherwise would have done, to their detriment in some cases.
The ad must not appear again in its current form and The Health Lottery was told to ensure that its ads in future do not encourage or condone gambling behaviour that could lead to harm.