Ladbrokes's online casino broke advertising rules

[clevfan]

Ladbrokes's online casino broke advertising rules

Wed Jan 7, 2009 12:21am GMT

By Martina Fuchs

LONDON (Reuters) - Gaming company Ladbrokes breached advertising standards in television commercials for its online casino which showed daredevil characters leaping to their deaths, the advertising regulator said Wednesday.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), which received one complaint from a member of the public, said the adverts for ladbrokescasino.com "portrayed gambling in a context of toughness, and linked it to excessive risk taking and reckless behaviour."

Ladbrokes said in a statement the advertisements were light-hearted and humorous, and it would appeal against the decision.

The first commercial showed a diver who attached raw bacon and sausages to his wet suit and leapt into shark-infested water dressed in a seal costume. A character at the end of the clip said: "All we could bury was his flipper."

The second advertisement showed a sky diver jumping out of a plane using an empty crisp packet as a parachute.

Both clips finished with: "If only he'd seen ladbrokecasino.com it would have quenched his thrill buds."

Ladbrokes said the ruling was an incorrect application of the advertising standards rules, and effectively barred the use of humour in gambling ads.

John O'Reilly, managing director of Ladbrokes Remote Betting and Gaming, said: "Ladbrokes fully supports the code of practice relating to gambling advertising but this ruling is an example of political correctness going too far."

"We believe the ads are compliant as they are humorous and show people in fantastical situations to which no one would aspire. Consumers know that you cannot jump from a plane using a 30 gram (1 oz) pack of crisps as a parachute," he added.

Ladbrokes was established in 1886 and employs 14,000 people in five European countries, with 2,600 betting shops in Britain, Ireland and Belgium.

[Mr Falcone]

The first commercial showed a diver who attached raw bacon and sausages to his wet suit and leapt into shark-infested water dressed in a seal costume. A character at the end of the clip said: "All we could bury was his flipper."

LMAO

[clevfan]

Ladbrokes hits back over ad ban with spoof 'missing persons' poster

Mark Sweney
guardian.co.uk,
Wednesday 7 January 2009 10.29 GMT

Ladbrokes has launched a tongue-in-cheek press campaign in the style of a missing persons poster offering a £20 reward to find the one viewer who complained to the advertising regulator and got the betting company's TV ad campaign banned.

The company, which today called for a review into the Advertising Standards Authority's ruling banning the two TV ads for its Ladbrokescasino.com online business, has taken out one-page ads in the Sun and the Racing Post.

Ladbroke's press ad campaign features a mock-up of a police photo-fit of a man's face, under the headline "Missing (a funny bone)".

The complainant is described in the ad as: "Body Type: Busy. Nose: Severely out of joint. Last Seen: Throwing toys out of pram."

"We bear them no ill will, we just want to give them a big bunch of flowers and a hug to say sorry," runs a line in the ad.

Ladbrokes goes on to ask readers to see if any of their friends watched the tongue in cheek TV ads for Ladbrokescasino.com "without so much as a snigger".

If so, says the ad, "we may have found our man, and you could earn yourself £20" to use on the casino website.

The ASA banned two tongue-in-cheek Ladbrokescasino.com TV ads for portraying gambling in a "context of toughness" and linking the pastime with recklessness.