One of the most popular online bingo sites in the United Kingdom, called Bingo Posh, has recently been investigated by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) after the ASA received a report by a member of public opinion stating that the bingo site TV advertising was deceitful. Apparently, its €20 welcome bonus offer was not clear enough.
Yesterday, the results of said investigation were published in the ASA website concluding that the advertisement was not deceitful and did not violate the TV advertising regulations and codes. The investigation conducted by the ASA found nothing fraudulent or deceiving in the Bingo Posh ad and decided that there was no reason to ban the piece, especially due to the contents showed in the Terms and Conditions section that is displayed on screen.
Several online bingo sites have already been caught by the ASA in the last few months after several reports were filed about some bingo sites in particular. The reports were issued because product advertising didn’t fulfill current regulations, advertising was too attractive for children or the advertisement overvalued chance games and showed them as a fresh and fun activity.
Wink Bingo and Lottery Bingo are just two of the bingo sites that were forced to withdraw their advertising campaigns after the Advertising Standards Authority conducted an investigation due to complaints made by members of the audience. Anyone can complain to the ASA about an inappropriate online gaming advertisement by accessing the ASA website and completing the online form or contacting the Authority via fax or through its postal address.
The dvertising Standards Authority is appointed by law to research all complaints thoroughly. Many of the complaints made by members of the audience and online bingo sites users have been solved in favor of plaintiffs, forcing online bingo sites to back off and dismiss expensive marketing campaigns and start from scratch.
When it comes to non-broadcasted advertising the measures taken by the ASA can go from a simple alert to the withdrawal of trading privileges and the pre-vetting of all marketing materials before publication. For broadcasted advertisements, the ASA can issue fines and even withdraw licenses to broadcast.