Ad description
An email from All British Casino, received on 20 July 2015, stated "Hi! Please meet All British Casino! ... Register your account now within one minute and you can try your luck for free with 15 free spins on the slot game Gonzo's Quest! ... PLAY NOW ...".
Issue
The complainant challenged whether the ad breached the Code, because he had not consented to receive marketing emails from All British Casino.
Response
L&L Europe Ltd explained that the email had been sent by one of their partners/affiliates and they could only identify which affiliate had sent it via the link in the email. They understood that the complainant no longer had the email complained about and they were therefore unable to determine who had sent the email on their behalf. They said that if they were able to identify the affiliate, they would contact them and determine whether they had used an opt-in list or not for the complainant. They said, if the affiliate had not used an opt-in list, an account closure would follow immediately.
Assessment
Upheld
The ASA noted that L&L Europe Ltd had been unable to provide an explanation of how the complainant's email address had been obtained.
The Code required advertisers to obtain a consumer's explicit consent before sending them email marketing communications. However, it did permit unsolicited marketing emails about similar products to be sent to consumers whose data had been obtained during, or in negotiations, for a sale.
We noted that the email was inviting the complainant to register with an online casino and we considered L&L Europe Ltd had used the complainant's data for purposes, other than for which it had originally been collected and shared. For that reason, they were required to obtain the complainant's explicit consent to receive marketing emails.
We expected L&L Europe Ltd to demonstrate that they had obtained the complainant's consent, but noted they did not provide any evidence to show they had. In the absence of that evidence, we concluded the ad breached the Code.
The ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 10.4.2 10.4.2 marketing communications are not sent unsolicited to consumers if explicit consent is required (see rule 10.13) and 10.13.3 10.13.3 sending marketing communications by electronic mail (excluding by Bluetooth technology) but marketers may send unsolicited marketing about their similar products to those whose data they have obtained during, or in negotiations for, a sale. Data marketers must, however, tell those consumers they may opt out of receiving future marketing communications both when they collect the data and at every subsequent occasion they send out marketing communications. Marketers must give consumers a simple means to do so (Database practice).
Action
We told L&L Europe Ltd to ensure they held evidence to demonstrate they had obtained the appropriate consent from a recipient before sending marketing emails in future.
