The UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) ruled that an online promotional advertisement by William Hill misled consumers, demanding its immediate withdrawal and prohibiting its placement in its current form. The advertisement was pushed on May 17 in the William Hill app, promoting the "Marble Race Live" game offer, with the main copy claiming "Bet £20 to get a £40 offer," but the fine print required a minimum bet of £40. The ASA found the advertisement content contradictory, violating CAP Rule 3.1 (misleading advertising) and Rule 3.9 (advertising qualifications), attributing it to a human error in typesetting which has since been corrected. This penalty is one of the recent cases where ASA has intensified its regulation of gambling industry advertisements.
Details of the Advertisement Violation and User Complaints
In the "Marble Race Live" promotional advertisement pushed through the app on May 17, the main copy clearly stated "Bet £20 to get a £40 offer," but the fine print below required users to bet a minimum of £40 to participate. A user, noting the contradiction, complained to the ASA about the misleading nature of the advertisement. William Hill acknowledged the error was due to human typesetting mistakes during advertisement resizing, and the correct betting requirements were stated in the fine print. The advertisement was only shown to 3057 targeted users and had a short exposure time.
ASA Ruling and Operator Response
The ASA supported the complainant's view, ruling that the main copy and terms of the advertisement did not match, implying that users only needed to bet £20 to enjoy the offer, but the actual requirement was £40, constituting misleading behavior. Although William Hill explained it as a manual error and emphasized that users could see the complete terms after clicking, and had reviewed the process to prevent recurrence, the ASA still found it in violation of CAP Rules 3.1 and 3.9, demanding the immediate withdrawal of the advertisement and prohibiting its future placement. William Hill stated that only this one advertisement was affected, and users ultimately had to accept the complete terms to participate.
Industry Regulatory Background and Trends
William Hill is one of several gambling operators recently penalized by the ASA. In early October 2023, the ASA issued warnings about Betway and Kwiff advertisements potentially attracting minors, with Betway criticized for extensive use of the Chelsea team logo, and Kwiff for using the image of Hamilton. The ASA also dismissed an appeal by SkyBet featuring Gary Neville in a historical advertisement, maintaining its ruling that it could attract minors. These cases show that the ASA is intensifying its scrutiny of gambling advertisements, particularly focusing on misleading content and youth protection.
