The UK's Advertising Standards Authority ("ASA") has published new Guidance on Protecting Children and Young People from irresponsible gambling ads, to come into force in April 2019.
The new Guidance prohibits targeting online ads for gambling products at groups of individuals who are likely to be under 18, while extensively listing unacceptable types of content, including certain types of animated characters, licensed characters from movies or TV, and sportspeople and celebrities who are likely to be of particular appeal to children. Ads using celebrities or influencers who are, or appear to be, under 25 are also prohibited.
The Guidance also adds to existing guidance on the responsible targeting of ads, covering all media, in order to assist advertisers in understanding what they need to do in order to avoid the under-18s from being targeted with such ad.
In previous recent updates, we also covered UK's CAP rules on the use of personal data for marketing, new standards on gambling advertising in the UK, and the new rules on advertising enforcement.
We would be happy to advise our clients and to clarify the implications arising from the new Guidance.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.