A complaint was filed to the ASA regarding the Buzz Bingo ad on Facebook in October 2023.
The ad consisted of animated footage with Halloween imagery and promoted the “Monster Mondays” campaign, offering a chance to win £50,000 every Monday in October.
The complaint alleged that the ad’s cartoon Halloween imagery could appeal to children and might violate advertising rules.
In response, Buzz Bingo defended the ad, stating it was posted on their Facebook page restricted to users aged 18 and above, specifically targeting those over 25 with an interest in bingo.
Buzz Bingo acknowledged concerns that the Halloween imagery may appeal to children and subsequently removed the ad and made changes to their marketing approval procedures.
However, the ASA upheld the complaint, noting that the ad’s animated content and Halloween theme could strongly appeal to children, breaching advertising rules.
The ASA stated that the ad could be acceptable if it appeared in a medium where under-18s were excluded from the audience through robust age-verification methods.
Since Facebook does not offer robust age-verification and users only self-verify upon sign-up, the ASA determined that Buzz Bingo failed to exclude under-18s from the audience accurately.
The ASA recognized the steps Buzz Bingo took in response to the complaint but concluded that the ad was irresponsible and violated CAP Code rules 16.1 and 16.3.12.
As a result, Buzz Bingo was ordered to ensure the ad does not appear in its current form again and was urged not to include themes or imagery likely to appeal to those under 18 in future ads.
