ASA’s CAP and BCAP Introduce Guidance Updates to Protect Minors

The United Kingdom’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) announced that its Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) and the Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice (BCAP) have updated their guidance to protect minors from the negative impact of gambling and lottery advertising.  

ASA Unveiled a Series of Guideline Updates

The ASA clarified that, in 2022, the two committees introduced stricter standards in response to public consultations on the matter. As a result, the two bodies replaced the previous test of “particular” appeal to minors with a stricter test of “strong” appeal. Thanks to the new test, the ASA diligently probed whether gaming and lottery ads would “unduly attract the attention of under-18s.”

The ASA added that the change made it responsible for more content than before. As a result, the ASA had to regulate a variety of factors, including the use of athletes and other personalities that could have a strong appeal to the more impressionable youth. The ASA also became responsible for material related to video games and online gaming that could likewise appeal to younger players.

After three years of leveraging this regulatory guidance, the ASA unveiled a few updates.

The ASA Provided Important Clarifications

The ASA clarified that its latest CAP and BCAP updates come in the wake of a series of rulings, stakeholder input and the results of new research. Among other things, the changes include clarification on social media following, a new context section, further clarification on “adult-centric” and “non-adult-centric” sports, and new details on the role of social media.

The clarification on social media following states that a rule of thumb to determine whether a personality has a sway over young people is whether they have 100,000 or more under-18 followers across social media platforms. The ASA said that marketers should keep that in mind as a rule of thumb, rather than a strict rule since certain personalities may have fewer minor followers and still have a strong appeal to younger audiences. Conversely, in some cases, even personalities with over 100,000 under-18 followers might be considered not to appeal to young people.

The ASA noted that marketers should be very cautious in cases where there is no UK-specific data.

In the meantime, the ASA said that the CAP and BCAP have added a new context section that explains more about how celebrities’ appeal can vary depending on the setting and the execution of the marketing materials. Additionally, the ASA said that it has now introduced stricter clarifications on the “adult-centric” and “non-adult-centric” sports distinctions.

Last but not least, the guideline changes now provide extra detail on the role of social media in today’s evolving marketing sector.