The People’s Postcode Lottery recently faced a complaint regarding an advertisement published in the Daily Mail newspaper. The ad highlighted a couple who were able to overcome redundancy and pay for their wedding thanks to a £62,500 lottery win. The ad appeared in July and featured Angie and Craig, a couple from Nottinghamshire, who had initially postponed their nuptials until they won the lottery. After being part of their neighborhood’s £1 million win, they were finally able to afford a honeymoon as well. However, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) ruled that the ad breached a specific rule related to lotteries and stated that it must not be published in the complained-of form again. The ASA rule states that marketing communications should not suggest that participating in a lottery can be a solution to financial concerns or an alternative to employment for achieving financial security. The ASA also warned the People’s Postcode Lottery to avoid implying that participating in a lottery could resolve financial concerns.
In response to the complaint, the People’s Postcode Lottery defended the ad by stating that they didn’t believe it violated the UK’s advertising code. According to the group, the ad did not imply that the winners had been struggling financially before their big win. The group argued that the interpretation of “financial concerns” could be subjective and that, on careful consideration, resuming wedding plans would not be seen as suggesting that participating in a lottery solves financial problems. The group also referenced CAP Guidance and explained that the ad did not exploit people’s fears about financial pressures or reference salary or debts. The Daily Mail newspaper shared a similar view and argued that the ad did not imply that participating in the lottery led to financial security. They believed that the couple had not changed their lifestyle significantly after winning, apart from resuming their wedding plans.
The ASA’s ruling stated that the ad created the impression that winning the People’s Postcode Lottery was a solution to the couple’s financial concerns regarding their wedding payment. This was further reinforced by the fact that the couple continued to play the lottery even after one of them was made redundant. The ASA concluded that the ad breached the code because it suggested that participating in a lottery could solve financial concerns.
