ASA Upholds Complaint Against Foxy Games
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has announced that it has upheld a complaint against Foxy Games
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has announced that it has upheld a complaint against Foxy Games, deeming the brand's latest advert to be irresponsible from a safe gambling point of view. While encouraging safe gambling is a noteworthy objective, many are criticising the advertising body for dismissing another complaint against a Betfair Casino ad.
The ASA believed the Foxy Games advert gave consumers the impression that playing games could result in financial security by using the words ‘make money online’ and ‘Earn Money Online – Foxy Games – Play Online’.
However, Foxy Games responded by saying the words appeared on the ad ‘as a result of human error’ and the brand had ‘taken action to remove it’.
The ASA stated:
“The CAP Code stated that advertisers must not suggest that gambling can be a solution to financial concerns, an alternative to employment or a way to achieve financial security.
“We considered the claim ‘Earn Money Online’ suggested to consumers that the gambling system offered by the advertiser could be used to ‘earn’ money and therefore attain a regular source of income. We considered this had the effect of suggesting that gambling could be a way to achieve financial security.
“We acknowledged that, on receipt of the complaint, the advertiser had taken action to address where their ads were served. However, we concluded that the ad suggested gambling was a way to achieve financial security, and was therefore socially irresponsible.”
While clamping down on Foxy Games, the ASA gave Betfair Casino the benefit of the doubt when it received a complaint about its new adverts. The advert showed two men, one rushing to catch his plane and another relaxed at spending his time in the Betfair app. Critics believed this portrayed gambling as taking priority in life.
A representative from Betfair Casino said:
‘Great care had been taken when creating the ad to ensure that it complied with the requirements of the BCAP Code and the ad had been approved by Clearcast.’
