The UK’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has banned a television from UK bookmaker Coral after complaints that it linked gambling to seduction.The ad features two men reading a newspaper and discussing horseracing in a barber shop before music starts to play and a woman dressed as a jockey walks in.
As she walks past the men, she stops close to one’s gaping jaw with her whip while other men in the shop stare at her.
A voice-over then states, ‘Get ready for today’s great offer,’ with the woman holding up a sign bearing the odds for a horse in an upcoming race.
A single complainant argued that the advert linked gambling to seduction, which goes against advertising rules in the UK.
Although Coral admitted its ad did make use of an attractive female character, it “did not consider that it linked gambling with seduction, sexual success or enhanced attractiveness”.
The bookmaker made clear that the female did not “flirt with or seduce the men and there was no suggestion that the men would be more attractive or sexually successful after betting”.
Despite the argument, the ASA ruled that the manner of the women’s entrance emphasised her sexual attractiveness, with the camera focusing on her knee-high boots and cutting to shots of jodhpurs, a whip and a jersey cut that revealed her midriff.
The ASA stated: “Viewers would be likely to understand the men’s reactions to the woman’s presence as being signs of their attraction to her, rather than excitement at the odds she held up on a card at one point in the ad.”
The ASA ruled that the advert must not be broadcast again in its current form.
source : www.igamingbusiness.com
