Background
Summary of Council decision:
Two issues were investigated, both of which were Upheld.
Ad description
A TV ad promoted Vernons Bingo. For the majority of the ad, on-screen text at the bottom of the screen stated "vernonsbingo.com/tv £30 FREE!". During the ad, one character stated, "Plus if you join now they'll give you £30 free to get you going" while on-screen text stated "Freeplay, T&Cs apply". A voice-over at the end of the ad stated, "Now at Vernons Bingo deposit £10 and get £30 absolutely free" and was accompanied with on-screen text which stated "Bonus cash out conditions apply". In the final scene, on-screen text stated "£30 Free Bonus".
Issue
The complainant challenged whether the ad was misleading because it did not make clear that:
1. the £10 deposited had to be spent before a user could receive the £30 free bonus; and
2. any winnings could only be claimed after the £30 bonus had been wagered four times.
Response
1. Sportech Alderney Ltd t/a VernonsBingo.com (Vernons Bingo) stated that a customer would receive the £30 free bonus once a deposit of £10 had been made and used to place bets. They said that did not necessarily mean that a consumer had to exhaust their £10, and many customers did find themselves in profit after placing their initial bets. Once a consumer had wagered a total of £10, they were able to use the £30 free bonus which was automatically allocated.
Clearcast highlighted that the ad stated that if a consumer deposited £10, Vernons Bingo would give them £30 free to play. They felt that viewers would interpret that to mean that if they deposited £10 "to play", then they would receive a bonus of £30 to play for free and that was qualified with "freeplay" in the legal super.
2. Vernons Bingo highlighted that the offer was an introductory offer aimed at new customers. They stated that they asked consumers to wager the bonus that had been awarded at least four times before claiming any winnings that they had accrued. They said that was known as a "wagering requirement", which was commonly accepted in the industry and within the betting community. They therefore asserted that the majority of players, in what they believed to be a very mature market, would be aware of that requirement and would fully understand the meaning of "Bonus Cashout conditions apply". They said in this case, the amount (£120) was more than the original sum awarded as customers could quickly profit on games, or with a partial return from a game in the form of winnings. They stated that the offer terms and conditions were highlighted within the ad, and that the ad directed consumers to a specific website dedicated to the offer, which again reinforced the terms and conditions that applied to the offer.
Clearcast said they had advised the advertiser that they would need to include "bonus cash out conditions apply" in the legal super to make clear that there were conditions to withdrawing winnings. As the ad did not mention any prize or jackpot amount, they felt there was no need for the advertiser to explicitly spell out how much a user would have to wager, in order to claim any winnings.
Assessment
1. Upheld
The ASA acknowledged that when one of the characters stated "Plus if you join now they'll give you £30 free to get you going", on-screen text stated "Freeplay. T&Cs apply". We considered that most consumers would understand that if they deposited £10 they would receive £30 "freeplay", which could only be used to make further bets and could not be cashed out immediately. We considered, however, that consumers might not necessarily understand that they would have to both deposit and wager £10, before they were allocated their free bonus, and instead might simply believe that, as part of the introductory offer, they could deposit £10 and then immediately access and wager their bonus funds too. We therefore considered that the ad was misleading and in breach of the Code.
The ad breached BCAP rules
3.1
3.1
Advertisements must not materially mislead or be likely to do so.
and
3.2
3.2
Advertisements must not mislead consumers by omitting material information. They must not mislead by hiding material information or presenting it in an unclear, unintelligible, ambiguous or untimely manner.
Material information is information that consumers need in context to make informed decisions about whether or how to buy a product or service. Whether the omission or presentation of material information is likely to mislead consumers depends on the context, the medium and, if the medium of the advertisement is constrained by time or space, the measures that the advertiser takes to make that information available to consumers by other means.
(Misleading advertising),
3.10
3.10
Advertisements must state significant limitations and qualifications. Qualifications may clarify but must not contradict the claims that they qualify.
(Qualification), and
3.25
3.25
Advertisements must make clear the extent of the commitment consumers must make to take advantage of a "free" offer.
Advertisements must not describe items as "free" if:
("Free" claims").
2. Upheld
The ASA understood that the offer was available to new Vernons Bingo customers only. We considered that a number of eligible viewers might already be members of similar websites and therefore understand that cash out restrictions usually applied to such offers. We were concerned, however, that a number of viewers would lack that understanding.
Whilst we noted that, during the ad, on-screen text stated "Bonus cash out conditions apply", we considered the fact that consumers had to wager their £30 bonus four times before they could claim their winnings was significant information which would have an impact on whether or not a consumer decided to take part in the promotion. We therefore considered that the extent of the cash out restrictions should have also been communicated to the viewer during the ad itself. Because those restrictions were not clearly stated during the ad, we concluded that it was misleading
The ad breached BCAP Code rules
3.1
3.1
Advertisements must not materially mislead or be likely to do so.
and
3.2
3.2
Advertisements must not mislead consumers by omitting material information. They must not mislead by hiding material information or presenting it in an unclear, unintelligible, ambiguous or untimely manner.
Material information is information that consumers need in context to make informed decisions about whether or how to buy a product or service. Whether the omission or presentation of material information is likely to mislead consumers depends on the context, the medium and, if the medium of the advertisement is constrained by time or space, the measures that the advertiser takes to make that information available to consumers by other means.
(Misleading advertising) and
3.10
3.10
Advertisements must state significant limitations and qualifications. Qualifications may clarify but must not contradict the claims that they qualify.
(Qualification).
Action
The ad must not be broadcast again in its current form.
