Background
This Ruling forms part of a wider piece of work on paid-for gambling-like ads, identified for investigation following intelligence gathered by the ASA. See also related rulings published on 25 September 2024.
Ad description
Two paid-for TikTok ads for Zeroo Gravity Games LLC, an online game provider, seen in March 2024:
a. The first ad, for the social casino game app “Cash Tornado”, featured imagery of slot gameplay accompanied by slot machine sound effects matching the gameplay imagery of coins lining up.
A voice-over and on-screen text across the gameplay imagery stated, “If you don’t hit 10 trillion coins within 10 spins Just delete the app. Cash Tornado is 100% FREE social slots game. Not only can you hit a big jackpot in just 10 spins but the payouts are EXTREMELY HIGH. Even if you only got a few coins you can still hit the jackpot of UP TO 20 TRILLION. With Cash Tornado you will win TRILLIONS MORE COINS in just an hour unlike if you would play any other slots game for entire week […] Trust me it won’t let you down.”
The end of the ad featured cartoon text “EPIC WIN” and “1,262,839,35[…]” along with imagery of coins and diamonds exploding from behind the text before the ‘Cash Tornado’ logo was shown.
b. The second ad for the social-casino game app “Jackpot Masters” featured animated imagery of the slot gameplay with voice-over and on-screen text that stated, “If you don’t hit a Jackpot of 10 trillion coins within 10 spins just delete the app. Jackpot Masters is a 100% free social slots game.”
Further gameplay imagery displayed text that stated “CONGRATULATIONS you win 55 free spins” whilst the voice-over and on-screen text stated, “Not only can you hit a big jackpot in 10 spins” before more gameplay imagery accompanied by text that stated “But the payouts are also EXTREMELY HIGH. Even if you only got a few coins you can still hit the jackpot for UP TO 20 TRILLION. With Jackpot Master you will win trillions more coins in just an hour unlike if you would play any other slots game for an entire week […] Trust me it won’t let you down.”
The end of the ad featured further gameplay imagery that showed a slot machine explode into coins and diamonds with cartoon text “Epic Win” with an increasing one trillion number counter before the “Jackpot Masters” logo.
Issue
The ASA challenged whether the ads misleadingly implied the social casino games were gambling products in which real-world money or tangible prizes could be won and withdrawn.
Response
Zeroo Gravity Games LLC said they published and distributed social casino-styled mobile games, including Las Vegas-inspired mini-games, that could be played for free. They confirmed that players were unable to win real-world money or tangible prizes as a result of gameplay on the app and that was made clear through explicit language in both the app store listing and Terms of Service users had to accept before being able to play the game.
They said that, upon notification of the complaint, they had realised the ads had been placed without the appropriate disclaimers. As a result, they explained that they took immediate action to update the ads to include a disclaimer and would take steps to ensure a similar issue did not occur in the future.
TikTok said restrictions applied to the advertising of social casino games on their platform and that included the prohibition of content implying that users could earn real-world money or where direct comparisons to gambling were made. They said the ads had breached TikTok ad policies, and as such, they had removed the ads from their platform.
Assessment
Upheld
The ASA understood that social casino apps emulated slot machines or other casino-based games. However, consumers were unable to win or withdraw any real-world money or tangible prizes from such apps, and therefore, they were not gambling products. We further understood that, whilst real-world money was not required to play, there were in-game purchase options available, which enabled consumers to buy in-game currency or additional gameplay features.
The ads featured cartoon imagery of slot machine gameplay and images of coins, accompanied by slot machine sound effects. We considered that was similar to the type of gameplay seen in casino-based slot games, in which it was possible to win and withdraw real-world money in either the virtual or real-world casino environment. We therefore considered consumers would understand that using the app was akin to playing on a mobile slot or real-life slot machine, which involved gambling and the potential to win real-world money.
The ads also referenced “hitting the jackpot” and referred to the payouts on the app being “EXTREMELY HIGH”. We considered the terms jackpot and payout were associated with gambling and that “hitting the jackpot” would be interpreted by consumers to mean winning the largest amount of money or prize available. Also, consumers would understand “payout” to be synonymous with other associated gambling terminology such as “withdraw” or “cash-out” and that, therefore, the term represented the amount of money they would win. We considered, therefore, consumers would understand that the apps offered an opportunity to gamble and they were able to withdraw any subsequent winnings. We also considered that the references to and imagery of coins, which emulated a prize display on casino-based slot machines, further reinforced the impression that it was possible to win and withdraw real-world money or another tangible prize.
Similarly, we considered the names of the apps “Cash Tornado” and “Jackpot Masters” were both associated with prizes that could be won via gambling, and therefore we considered that consumers would understand the apps provided the opportunity to gamble, and should they have acquired any winnings, that it would be possible to withdraw them.
However, we understood that “Cash Tornado” and “Jackpot Masters” were social casino apps through which it was not possible to win or withdraw real-world money or tangible prizes. Whilst we acknowledged that the ads both referenced the games as “social slots”, we considered that the average consumer would not be familiar with the term or that it referred to a game that emulated the slot machine experience without the ability to gamble or withdraw one’s winnings. We also acknowledged that the value of coins referenced in the ads was often fantastical, for example, the ability to win trillions of coins. We considered that consumers would likely understand they were not able to withdraw such vast amounts of money. However, they would assume that the amount of coins referred to in the ad would equate to a different value of real-world currency, which we understood was common practice for in-game currency within apps.
As such, we did not consider the use of those figures would override the impression that consumers were able to withdraw real-world money. We also acknowledged that the app store listing and Terms of Service stated that players were unable to win real-world money or prizes. However, that was not sufficient to override the impression created by the ad. The decision to click through to the app store from the ad was a transactional decision in relation to downloading the game, and we considered that consumers were not provided with information in the ad itself that was material to that decision.
Because we considered the ads gave the impression that the apps were gambling products in which real-world money could be won and withdrawn, when that was not the case, we considered the ads were misleading and concluded the ads breached the Code.
The ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 3.1 and 3.3 (Misleading advertising).
Action
The ad must not appear again in its current form. We told Zeroo Gravity Games LLC to ensure they did not imply consumers could win real-world money or tangible prizes.
