Littlewoods has Ad Banned

Littlewoods Casino has had one of its advertisements banned by the UK Advertising Standards Authority, which felt that the ad might appeal to children.  The UK Advertising Standards Authority decides which ads are suitable in the United Kingdom where gambling entities can advertise only if they adhere to certain standards.

The advertisement in question featured Spiderman, one of the Marvel Comics heroes, in the promotion of the Spiderman 25 line slots machine. Spiderman is a figure that is very popular with children and the AKA removed the ad because they felt it attracted children, in contradiction to the advertising standards.

The ad was developed by Future Publishing for Littlewoods and they claimed that the ad was not intended for children and was on a site where the average age of the readers was 41 years of age.  Both companies said that they have procedures in place to prevent underage gambling.

Littlewoods has been using Marvel Comics characters in its ads since 2005 and says this is the first time that there has been any problem. The AKA felt that Spiderman is a character that appeals directly to children and felt that the ad was in breach of the relevant code. Both companies said they would be more careful in the future.

Posted: July 2, 2008

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