Golden Tiger Casino advert "misleading", says ASA
Advertising Standards Authority raps Malta-based operator over email promotion that omitted key details of a ?1,500 free bonus promotion
Apollo Entertainment subsidiary Golden Tiger Casino has been reprimanded by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) over a “misleading” email promotion for its GoldenTigerCasino.co.uk site.
The email told players they were a weekly winner and had received a ?1,500 welcome bonus. Text stated: “Use our money to play our games. If you win, you get to keep it. Deposit is required to claim your winnings”.
The advert also included a footnote which stated “Terms and conditions may apply”.
One complainant challenged whether the claim “if you win, you get to keep it” was misleading as it failed to make clear a wagering requirement applied before consumers could withdraw their winnings.
Apollo said the email promoted Golden Tiger Casino’s welcome bonus offer but was “not indicative of the advertising of the sales promotion as a whole”. They also said recipients clicked through from the email to the promotion’s landing page, which included terms and conditions.
The operator said it believed the email was factual in that players could withdraw whatever they won, provided they met the wagering requirement stated. Apollo also noted that in order to claim the offer, customers had to create an account where they were provided with a further link to T&Cs.
In its ruling, the ASA said the wagering requirement meant consumers had to wager the amount of money they used from the bonus 60 times before they could withdraw their winnings, material information that would likely impact the player’s decision to take up the offer.
“Because we considered the wagering requirement was material information, it should have been made clear to consumers before they took the decision and further step to click through,” the ASA added.
Consequently, the watchdog said the omission of that material information was “so significant” that it was likely to mislead consumers into understanding the claim “if you win [using your money], you get to keep it” to mean that it was free of further conditions, other than placing a deposit.
The ASA told Apollo the ad must not run again in its current form and that future ads must include all the applicable significant conditions for promotions where their omission is likely to mislead.