The UK Committees of Advertising Practice (CAP), a regulatory body responsible for setting standards and regulations for safe advertising, are introducing a set of new rules after public consultation.
These proposals will have a huge impact on betting and gaming ads that make use of sport personalities, reality TV stars and social media influencers.
The rules, which are being proposed by the body responsible for setting the UK code for advertising, would result in recent gambling ads featuring personalities such as José Mourinho, Michael Owen and Harry Redknapp being banned.
Under the current rules an advert is banned only if it likely to appeal more to an under-18 than to an adult. Under the new rules an ad will be banned if it appeals to children, regardless of how it may be viewed by adults.
These new advertising rules are the result of a recently conducted research that was commissioned by GambleAware. The results of this study found that there is more potential for gambling ads to target underage audiences rather than adults.
The CAP further explained that the majority of ads featuring world renowned celebrities will be banned unless these ads solely target adults rather than appeal to the underage audience. With these new measures set to come into place, the CAP has decided against a blanket ban on gambling advertisements in the UK, due to the lack of evidence to justify such a drastic move.
“For example, featuring the England football captain in a gambling ad would be prohibited under this new rule,” said the CAP.
Ads featuring some celebrities not significantly resonant with younger audiences, such as Ray Winstone who has fronted numerous ads for Bet365, would not be affected by the new rules.
Last summer, the gambling industry introduced a voluntary ban on betting adverts during sports programmes, a so-called “whistle-to-whistle” blackout, under mounting pressure to protect children from excessive exposure to gambling.
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