According to the ASA’s announcement, a tweet by Ladbrokes which included a video featuring Premier League footballers Philippe Coutinho, Jesse Lingard and Kalidou Koulibaly was the major cause of concern. The video featured all three next to a Ladbrokes logo.
In its response to the ASA’s findings, Ladbrokes stated that it had taken the new rule into careful consideration and used Twitter tools that would prevent under 18s from seeing the tweet.
ASA Warns Ladbrokes for Premier League Footballers Ad with Strong Appeal to MinorsASA Warns Ladbrokes for Premier League Footballers Ad with Strong Appeal to MinorsPremier League footballers were considered high risk within the CAP guidance “Gambling and lotteries: Protecting under-18s” in terms of how likely they were to be of strong appeal to under-18s. Football was an activity in which a very significant proportion of under-18s participated directly on a frequent basis, and had a general interest in through following professional teams and players across a variety of media.
There was also a highly developed infrastructure around organised participation and the sport had an exceptionally high media profile including popular, dedicated media for under-18s. Those who played at an elite level were likely to appeal strongly to children.
As a result, it concluded that the tweet broke the new advertising code and warned Ladbrokes that it must not appear again in its current form.
