ASA Looking Into Gambling Memes That Reach Under 18s

To most netizens who also happen to have a passion for gambling, gambling memes are excellent means of expressing one’s self by posting the right image at the right time, after receiving inspiration from the gods of popular culture themselves. 

While they may give anyone a throaty chuckle when stumbling upon them, these memes now also represent a reason for concern, according to the UK’s advertising watchdog, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). 

This is due to fears that the respective content, deemed entertaining and humorous, similar to the one produced by gambling influencers, could pose a risk to children. 

Created by gambling operators and heavily shared online, says ASA, these memes are marketing tools that help operators build brand awareness and promote themselves.

The House of Lords, however, begs to differ. The upper house of the Parliament believes the advertising watchdog must crack down on the exact “rule breaches.” 

Memes, 4X More Likely to Appeal to Under 18s

The new probe is based on the results of a series of research introduced by the former Conservative government, which were also mentioned in plans to reform the UK’s gambling industry via the White Paper. 

The results of the studies conducted by researchers from the University of Bristol claim that memes are strongly appealing to youngsters under the age of 18.

Just how appealing? About four times more compared to adults.

The university’s lecturer in marketing, Raffaello Rossi, explained the concern was aimed at the ads hiding “the addictive nature of gambling behind humor.”

“Once [under 18s] begin following these brands on social media because of the entertaining content, they are also exposed to financial incentives, such as sign-up bonuses and promotions,” he continued. 

ASA’s Reaction, “Too Little, Too Late”

Rossi went further and suggested that the ASA was slow to notice the problem with the gambling memes that have been posted nonstop by gambling operators since 2019, calling the watchdog’s actions “too little, too late.”

The marketing lecturer mentioned “hundreds of thousands of content marketing ads” posted by gambling brands like Irish sportsbook Paddy Power have already reached “kids,” adding that investigating a few individual ads was not likely “to make a meaningful difference.”

The “Editorial Content” Label Controversy

According to the same research mentioned earlier, gambling memes are employed to encourage young people to follow gambling accounts for their content, where they are further exposed to free bonuses for registration and other similar offers.

While a few of these posts carry the “editorial content” label as a way of making them more acceptable, the ASA wants to look into several complaints regarding their marketing material.

This is the watchdog’s first investigation into this relatively fresh form of advertising. The ASA’s action was made public via a letter that was seen by inews, and which was replying to Lord Foster of Bath’s complaint. 

The Lib Dem peer chairing the Peers for Gambling Reform group used the letter to express “strong concern over repeated inaction” while emphasizing the risks this type of advertising posed to children and teenagers, mentioning the “clear breaches” of the rules.