The United Kingdom’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) prohibited a commercial for the internet gaming platform 21.co.uk due to its excessive focus on expertise in a blackjack game depicted within a brief 30-second advertisement. The commercial, aired in March 2017, featured a smartly attired blackjack player pondering his subsequent action at a table as a voiceover declared: “His pulse quickens. His physique remains motionless. Calculating. Everything is at stake. Feeling versus intellect. Intuition versus rationality. He reaches a verdict. He controls his fate.”
The ASA questioned whether the advertisement suggested gambling relied on ability rather than chance with the phrase “he controls his fate,” deeming it irresponsible, and whether the advertisement presented gambling in a “harsh setting.”
Despite 21.co.uk’s assertion that blackjack is a strategic card game and “controlling your fate” is a prevalent expression signifying the beneficial impact of practice on a player’s likelihood of triumph, the ASA still deemed the advertisement irresponsible.
While recognizing that the man did not exhibit “obvious physical attributes of resilience,” the ASA upheld the second objection because “viewers would perceive him as displaying mental fortitude or tenacity within the context of wagering on a single hand.”
The Advertising Standards Authority didn’t have an issue with the advertisement’s depiction of a man with dilated eyes, despite complaints from some individuals who felt it portrayed gambling as overly exhilarating. The ASA concluded that the man appeared composed and self-assured. However, they did instruct 21.co.uk to remove the advertisement due to its excessive focus on employing strategy in gambling, deeming it misleading. The company received a caution to exercise greater prudence in their future advertising endeavors.
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