Ad description
A radio ad for Paddy Power, heard on 12 December 2021, featured a conversation about football at Christmas. The ad began with a man called Paddy, who said, “It's the PaddyPower football supporter's support Line and we're talking to Burnley fan Graham, what's up Graham?” Graham said, “Well it's Christmas Paddy.” Paddy replied, “You're not a Grinch are you Graham?” Graham said, “No I love all the midweek fixtures, quick turnaround between games.” Paddy said, “So why so glum?” Graham responded, “Well it's the work Christmas party, the 5-a-side drinks, school days, dinner, makes it very hard to watch all the football.” A voiceover then said, “Premier League is non-stop this December so make the most of it with Paddy Power's Bet Builder offer. Get money back as a free bet if one leg of your Bet Builder lets you down. PaddyPower.” At the end of the ad, the voiceover stated, “Pre match online bet builder bets only. Min odds one to five per leg. Min four plus legs. Max free bet £10 per day. Excludes enhanced match odds. T's & C's apply. 18+. Begambleaware.org.”
Issue
The complainant, who believed the terms and conditions at the end of the ad were spoken too quickly and at such a low volume that they were unintelligible, challenged whether the ad was misleading.Response
PPB Counterparty Services Ltd t/a Paddy Power said that the ad featured their Bet Builder promotion which offered users a free bet up to £10 if one leg of an accumulator bet was unsuccessful. They believed they had included all relevant significant conditions in the ad and ensured the conditions did not contradict any claims in the ad.
Paddy Power said that the terms and conditions had not been sped up in post-production and they were presented without background effects to ensure full clarity.
Paddy Power said that after receiving the complaint they had reviewed the ad. They had not noted any issue with the volume of the ad and explained that it met the standard specifications for UK radio broadcasters. They explained that as the terms and conditions were read in a different voice to the rest of the ad, the volume had actually been raised for that section to take into account any dip in volume as a result of the change of speaker and any difference in tone.
Radiocentre said that they had cleared the ad on the condition that important clarifications or legally required information would be read in such a way that the listener could easily hear and understand them. This included the speed and volume at which they were read and any background noise that could have interfered with them.
Assessment
Upheld
The ad presented Paddy Power’s Bet Builder offer of money back as a free bet if one leg of the Bet Builder was unsuccessful. The conditions at the end of the ad indicated that: the offer applied to pre-match online bets only that were made up of four legs. All legs had to have minimum odds of one to five and it excluded enhanced match odds. In addition, the maximum free bet that could be obtained from the promotion was £10 per day.
We considered that information about the offer applying to selected online bets was material information that consumers required in order to make an informed decision. These therefore must be presented to listeners in a clear and intelligible manner.
We considered that the conditions which followed the statement “Get money back as a free bet if one leg of your Bet Builder lets you down. PaddyPower” were spoken at a lower volume than the earlier part of the ad and at a much faster pace. We considered that the wording had been delivered in such a way that listeners would not have been able to take in their full content. Because those conditions had not been presented in a clear and intelligible manner, we concluded that the ad was misleading.
The ad breached BCAP Code rules
3.1
3.1
The standards objectives, insofar as they relate to advertising, include:
a) that persons under the age of 18 are protected;
b) that material likely to encourage or incite the commission of crime or lead to disorder is not included in television and radio services;
c) that the proper degree of responsibility is exercised with respect to the content of programmes which are religious programmes;
d) that generally accepted standards are applied to the contents of television and radio services so as to provide adequate protection for members of the public from inclusion in such services of offensive and harmful material;
e) that the inclusion of advertising which may be misleading, harmful or offensive in television and radio services is prevented;
f) that the international obligations of the United Kingdom with respect to advertising included in television and radio services are complied with [in particular in respect of television those obligations set out in Articles 3b, 3e,10, 14, 15, 19, 20 and 22 of Directive 89/552/EEC (the Audi Visual Media Services Directive)];
g) that there is no use of techniques which exploit the possibility of conveying a message to viewers or listeners, or of otherwise influencing their minds, without their being aware, or fully aware, of what has occurred"
Section 319(2).
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.
and
3.11
3.11
Qualifications must be presented clearly.
BCAP has published guidance on superimposed text to help television broadcasters ensure compliance with rule
3.1
3.1
The standards objectives, insofar as they relate to advertising, include:
a) that persons under the age of 18 are protected;
b) that material likely to encourage or incite the commission of crime or lead to disorder is not included in television and radio services;
c) that the proper degree of responsibility is exercised with respect to the content of programmes which are religious programmes;
d) that generally accepted standards are applied to the contents of television and radio services so as to provide adequate protection for members of the public from inclusion in such services of offensive and harmful material;
e) that the inclusion of advertising which may be misleading, harmful or offensive in television and radio services is prevented;
f) that the international obligations of the United Kingdom with respect to advertising included in television and radio services are complied with [in particular in respect of television those obligations set out in Articles 3b, 3e,10, 14, 15, 19, 20 and 22 of Directive 89/552/EEC (the Audi Visual Media Services Directive)];
g) that there is no use of techniques which exploit the possibility of conveying a message to viewers or listeners, or of otherwise influencing their minds, without their being aware, or fully aware, of what has occurred"
Section 319(2).
. The guidance is available at:
Use of superimposed text in television advertising
(Qualification).
Action
The ad must not appear again in its current form. We told PPB Counterparty Services Ltd t/a Paddy Power to ensure that significant limitations and material information were presented in a clear and intelligible manner in future ads.
