ASA bans Health Lottery ad
ASA rules that ad promoting new Wednesday draw could exploit the vulnerable.
The Health Lottery has seen its second advert banned in just over a month after the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) ruled that its latest commercial was “socially irresponsible”.
The ad showed different people saying “I’m a loser” and lamenting missing out on luxuries including a new kitchen, holiday and sports car, because the numbers they would usually pick on a Saturday draw came up during the Health Lottery’s new Wednesday draw, which they didn’t take part in.
The Health Lottery, which appointed former Spielo G2 vice president of product Dominic Mansour as its new CEO earlier this month, argued that the only intention of the advert was to inform players that their Saturday numbers would not be entered free of charge into the new Wednesday draw and that the latter was a separate product.
However, the ASA upheld 14 complaints arguing that the advert used peer pressure to force players participate in both draws, as well as eight complaints suggesting it exploited vulnerable people.
The ASA ruled: “Some of the characters appeared to be distressed or frustrated by their lack of participation in the Wednesday draw, while one shouted “loser” directly at viewers.
“We considered that the term “loser” was a pejorative term and that, in the context of the ad, was likely to exploit the susceptibilities and credulity of vulnerable people by suggesting that if they did not participate in the draw they had somehow failed.”
In December, the ASA banned another Health Lottery ad after being seen as suggesting lotteries as a solution to financial difficulties.
The Health Lottery was awarded a remote gambling licence by the UK Gambling Commission in June last year, prompting a legal challenge from Camelot, but its claim was rejected in a High Court ruling, handed down in August.