William Hill TV ad banned for linking gambling to seduction
A television advert devised by Beattie McGuinness Bungay for William Hill has been banned by the Advertising Standards Agency for equating gambling to seduction.
The offending piece panned down past a model’s chest toward a roulette wheel with a ball spinning in the background, before showing a large mound of gambling chips being pushed toward the viewer.
During this spectacle a voiceover intonated: ‘Experience a live casino like no other’.
In their defence William Hill asserted that they had made no claims or connotations that gambling increased a consumer’s sexual success or enhanced their attractiveness and made no link between gambling and seductiveness.
They further added that the ad was shown only after the 9pm watershed.
In their judgement the ASA said: “… we noted the ad began with a close-up of a woman's eyes looking up from a gambling table and directly into the camera lens, which panned out from the woman's face while maintaining focus on her eyes.
“We considered the focus on her eyes was used to engage the viewer which could be interpreted as a signal of attraction. We also considered that as the camera panned down over the female croupier's décolletage, this enhanced the sense of seduction, which was further reinforced by the uniforms worn by all of the female croupiers.
“Because the ad opened with an engaging shot of the croupier's eyes, showed sensual areas of the women's body and because of the style of outfit worn, we concluded the ad linked gambling to seduction, which was a breach of the Code.”
The ad must not be shown again in its current form.