UK’s CAP and BCAP Post Technical Changes to the Lotteries and Under-25s Rules

The UK Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) Code and the British Code of Advertising Practice (BCAP) unveiled technical updates to their rules on lotteries advertising. The two bodies noted that the changes will not have an impact on advertising policy and practice and are instead intended to make the rules clearer for Code users.

In 2020, the two bodies introduced changes to the policies, allowing for lotteries to support good causes benefitting children. At the same time, the changes allowed people who are or seem to be under 25 to be included in promotional materials if that helps to illustrate the good causes.

As noted by the two bodies, it is unreasonable to prohibit lotteries from depicting beneficiaries of their good cause initiatives.

The Wording Was Not Clear Enough

However, a recent ASA casework discovered some vague wording that might cause the Codes to be wrongly interpreted. A number of rules that were supposed to apply to both people who are under 25 and people who seem to be under 25 were not properly worded. As a result, only the first of the rules stated that in full. Subsequent rules refer only to under-25s, which might cause confusion about the inclusion of people who appear to be under 25 in ads.

To make sure that everything is absolutely clear, the CAP and BCAP revised the wording for example, rule 17.15 which used to state “Marketing communications for lotteries must not feature anyone who is, or seems to be, under 25 years old (under-25s) participating in gambling” has been changed to instead read “Marketing communications for lotteries must not feature anyone who is, or seems to be, under 25 years old participating in gambling.”

The full list of changes is available on the official website of the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority.

The ASA noted that CAP and BCAP’s rules and guidance are reviewed periodically just so they are clear for Code users. In addition to the technical updates, the two bodies also introduced amendments to the accompanying guidance, improving clarity. A marked-up version of the document is also available on the ASA’s website.

In other news, the ASA just opened fire against Ladbrokes, which allegedly violated the authority’s rules on gambling advertising. According to the regulator, the operator had posted Tweets that might have appealed to young people. The new probe came just after the authority slammed an ad featuring Jake Paul as “irresponsible.”