LeoVegas ad on the Daily Mirror website banned by advertising watchdog for misleading £1500 ‘loophole’ claim
An ad for online casino LeoVegas that appeared on the Daily Mirror website has been banned by the ASA, the advertising watchdog, for misleading customers with a £1500 “loophole” bonus.
Online casino company Leo Vegas gets welcome offer ad banned by ASA
The ad, that appeared on the website on 15 November, promoted an “online loophole” that meant new customers would be able to claim up to £1500 and 250 free spins at its online casino. The customers could only claim these deposit bonuses and free spins in four instalments, with the maximum bonus amount at £1500.
It read: “How Brits can get an extra £1,500 from this online loophole. One online casino is giving Brits an extra special welcome bonus. Would you like to be £1500 better off?”
However, a complainant challenged whether the ad was misleadingly suggesting that new customers would receive £1500 in cash.
LeoVegas argued they made it clear that the possible bonus awarded to players was dependent on them placing bets. They argued “cash” was not used anywhere in the ad, whereas the phrase “welcome bonus” was used on two separate occasions.
However, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) considered that the ad did not make sufficiently clear as to whether consumers would receive £1500 in cash or as a “welcome bonus”, since the language used in the ad was confused.
The phrase “Would you like to be £1,500 better off?” was a particular source of contention, since this suggested that consumers could claim that amount in monetary form, the ASA said.
The ad has been banned in its current form for suggesting that consumers could claim a cash incentive when that wasn’t the case.