ASA Upholds Ruling against Napoleons Casinos over “Unacceptable” Ad

The British media regulator has targeted and ruled against brick-and-mortar casino operator Napoleons Casinos citing an ad the company aired as socially irresponsible.

ASA Sides with Complainants against Napoleons Casinos

The United Kingdom’s media regulator, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), has ruled against a Facebook ad and operator Napoleons Casinos after the latter used what was described as “unacceptable language” in its promotional materials.

ASA sanctioned the use of “unlimited gambling” and what the regulator understood as an incentive towards gamblers to play without any consideration for limits or restrictions. The ad itself was published on August 16 and the website’s FAQ page added that “unrestricted gambling” awaited anyone who could undergo verification processes.

The ad was quickly targeted by complainants who brought the matter with ASA and argued that the language used was socially irresponsible. However, Napoleons Casinos responded by assuring the regulator that all players had a limit on how much time and money they could spend.

However, this did not apply to full members who were able to enjoy prolonged gaming sessions at their discretion. This, the operator argued, was what made the use of the language appropriate.

Napoleons Casinos Tries to Explain Confusion

Napoleons Casinos changed “unlimited gambling” to “unrestricted gambling” to avoid confusion on the part of the regulator, but AGA responded by arguing that both terms were not acceptable and created an impression that players may spend as much as they wanted without any restrictions.

This, according to the watchdog, could be misconstrued as irresponsible gambling. ASA reached a conclusion that the ad could never appear in the form it originally was published in and that Napoleons Casinos would have to ensure that the operator’s ads do not argue that customers have unlimited access to gambling.

Napoleons Casinos was among five brick-and-mortar operators to face regulatory action by the UK Gambling Commission for reportedly breaching social responsibility and AML standards.