Tombola bingo adverts fall foul of ASA - Online Bingo News

Tombola Bingo is the latest in a growing list of online bingo sites in the UK to be forced to withdraw advertisments that are judged 'unsuitable' by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).

The latest ad campaign at Tombola bingo is heavily based on its unique internet bingo games and variations on the fairground theme, including such favourites as Roller-Coaster and Freefall.

Two advertisments from the campaign were singled out by the ASA, both featuring the fairground theme familiar to regulars of the bingo site and highlighting specific games in fitting with the theme.

In spite of clearly visible text at the start of each of the two ads stating: "18+. Terms apply. £10 deposit required. gambleaware.co.uk", both adverts were deemed to be possibly appealing to youngsters.

The ASA was alerted a few weeks into the Tombola bingo ad campaign, by a single complaint that the content would appeal to minors, and after reviewing the whole campaign, two ads from the campaign were unceremoniously banned.

The online bingo site protested vehemently against the decision, maintaining that the intention had been to create advertisments that presented the online bingo experience metaphorically, and that the ads were targeted for an adult audience. Tombola stated that they had no interest in appealing to under 18's, and has rigorous enforcement procedures in place to ensure that minors cannot access the internet bingo site.

Despite the protests, two of the Tombola bingo adverts had to be pulled off the air when the ASA passed the judgement to ban.

The six-figure advertising campaign for the online bingo site was created by the JDA agency, and had been running simultaneously on all media platforms in the UK including TV, radio, press and internet for several weeks before the lone complaint surfaced against the unfortunate online bingo site.

Written by Charlene Grey for Bingostreet.com – bringing you daily news and updates on the world of internet bingo.