The Drum Awards for Marketing - Extended Deadline

-d -h -min -sec

Author

By Imogen Watson, Senior reporter

December 12, 2018 | 2 min read

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has decided not to take further action against The National Lottery after a series of ads came under fire for depicting a family finding solace from financial troubles, by winning the famous gambling game.

24 individuals made complaints to the ASA, challenging whether the ads suggested that participating in a lottery could be a solution to financial concerns.

The main ad opens in the early hours, as a fisherman leaves the warmth and slumber of his family home to head off onboard a fishing boat, to trawl the ocean for fish.

The ad then follows his partner as she carries on with normal family life, in his absence. A few obscure scenes lead the viewer to believe his wife is considering leaving the fisherman, but by the end of the ad, it becomes clear that she has, in fact, bought a house with the winnings of a lottery ticket.

The ASA found that although the ad "highlighted the time they had to spend apart which suggested that this placed a strain on their relationship, before the “reveal” that the couple was not in fact separating but had, in fact, won a prize on the lottery that allowed them to upgrade the family home, it did not imply that they had financial concerns."

Therefore, it did "not imply that participating in the lottery had been a solution to financial concerns for the family features, or that doing so could be a solution to financial concerns for others."

This is the first work Adam & Eve/DDB has created for the gambling body after it won the account earlier this year, from AMV BBDO.

At the time, Camelot said it was trying to impress the public with the transformative powers of the lottery, whether that's for players or the wider community.

This is the second time in the past month that Camelot has been pulled up by the ASA. A National Lottery scratchcard ad was banned in November for inappropriately targeting children.

ASA National Lottery Marketing

More from ASA

View all