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The Italian Advertising Self-Regulatory Court deemed the TV ad of a major remote gaming licensed casino operator in breach of the recently introduced provisions of the Advertising Self-Regulatory Code on gambling advertising.
The TV ad concerned the recently launched online slots showing a player gambling during the night with his PC and all of sudden gaining a major winning followed by a rain of golden coins.
The Monitoring Committee first and the Court of the Institute of Advertising Self-Regulation then held that the ad was in breach of the provisions against gambling advertising of the Advertising Code since it was creating expectations of easy winnings pushing players to underestimate the gambling addiction risks. Also, according to the court, the fact that the ad stressed the possibility to immediately withdraw the winning was encouraging players to gamble in order to sort financial issues. Finally, the presence of responsible gambling statements was not considered per se by the court as a sufficient tool to avoid the breach.
This is a very interesting decision as the new gambling advertising regulations had never been tested before. However, it may be argued that if a casino operator offers a major jackpot it should be able to advertise it. Indeed, it is not clear in the decision whether the fact itself of advertising a potential winning of a very large amount of money may be deemed in breach of advertising regulations. And if this approach is followed in subsequent decisions it might be argued that such decisions are in breach of the general principle of freedom to perform business since advertising is an essential part of a business.
What is your view on this decision? Feel free to contact me, Giulio Coraggio, to discuss, also follow me on Twitter and become one of my friends on LinkedIn.
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