ASA Claims That Ladbrokes' Jake Paul Tweet Was Appealing To Under 18's
The ASA looked into whether the tweet after the Fury/Paul fight had breached UK advertising laws by targeting children under 18.
A tweet from Ladbrokes was found to violate UK laws prohibiting appeals to anyone under 18 by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).
An image of the former YouTube star turned-boxer was included in the initial tweet sent by Ladbrokes following Jake Paul's loss against Tommy Fury.
The ASA determined that the original post broke UK laws since Paul has a sizable following across social media and first rose to stardom by creating films for a young audience on YouTube.
The tweet was made in February 2023, and according to Ladbrokes, it contained no links to the company's website and was inaccessible to those under the age of 18. Boxing is categorised by the CAP advice as a sport that isn't of "moderate or high risk in terms of appeal to under-18s," it was further said.
Having said that, the ASA noted the following in its analysis of the tweet:
'We considered that boxing was an adult-oriented sport and one that had low appeal to under-18s. We also considered that Jake Paul would primarily be known for making YouTube videos and that he had a large social media following. We acknowledged that he had, within the last few years, turned to boxing.
'However, because of his career on YouTube, we considered that he had a high profile within the sport and was well-known outside of the sport and social media. Across YouTube, TikTok, Instagram and Twitter, Jake Paul had over 65 million followers. On YouTube, TikTok and Instagram, around three million people were registered as under 18 on each of those platforms.'
