Ladbrokes Adverts Banned Based on Irresponsible Attitudes

Two of Ladbrokes gambling adverts have been banned for portraying an irresponsible attitude towards gambling.

One of the adverts showed a character named Mr Brightside with the slogan, “When you win it’s skill – when you lose it’s bad luck.” The second post had the slogan, “Once is luck – twice is talent.”

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) received 98 complaints about the advertising campaign.

Ladbrokes has said that it believed most consumers, which viewed the ads as a whole, would see them as dryly funny and would not interpret them as encouraging irresponsible gambling.

The full campaign features five characters which place bets and has the tagline: “They are the dreamers, the glory-seekers, the back-page philosophers, the Wednesday night warriors. They are the have-a-go heroes of Saturday afternoon. They are the betting men, and this is the Ladbrokes Life.”

The ASA agreed with Ladbrokes defence regarding the campaign as a whole. However, they upheld the complaints about the two posters as in their view they lacked the same degree of context as the rest of the campaign.