Don't Take A Chance On Gambling Ads

Organisations using lotteries, draws and promotions with prizes are affected by new laws coming into effect in September explains Nigel Hanson.

All bets may currently be off for Torbay’s new casino after the Government’s plans were derailed by the ‘no’ vote in the Lords last month, but if your business is the gambling type, you still need to keep your eye on the ball.

New rules on advertising gambling come into force on 1st September and now is the time to make sure your promotional activities are legal and effective.

Gambling is not just what goes on round the blackjack and roulette tables of casinos. Gambling, under the Gambling Act 2005 includes lotteries and in some circumstances, prize draws, promotions with prizes, and marketing competitions.

If your business uses these types of competition for marketing – or, if it promotes gaming or betting activities – check that your promotions satisfy the new rules.

Whether your organisation’s promotion is a ‘lottery’ – and is caught by the new regime – is an important, if a rather legalistic, question.

A ‘lottery’ is now defined as an arrangement where persons have to pay in order to take part, prizes are allocated, and the prizes are distributed by a process wholly reliant on chance.

An event is also a ‘lottery’ if it involves more than one process, where the first of those processes relies wholly on chance – for example, chance-and-skill competitions.

A process which appears to require entrants to exercise some skill is nevertheless deemed to be "wholly reliant on chance" if a significant proportion of people who wish to take part are able to participate and win a prize.

Do any of your promotions count as gambling because they fall within the new definition of a ‘lottery’? If in doubt, taking legal advice before going to the expense of designing and publishing advertisements can save money and time.

Incidentally, the National Lottery is administered under the National Lottery Act, not the Gambling Act, so the new rules don’t apply to it.

Advertising
The new rules offer a little more scope for advertising certain gambling activities on television and radio than previously, subject to strict requirements about content and scheduling. Advertisements adjacent to children’s programmes, for example, are particularly restricted.

Meanwhile, advertisements in non-broadcast media, such as newspapers, magazines and online, have a raft of new restrictions and there is no sign of any relaxation.

Broadly, the rules try to ensure advertisements for gambling, including certain prize competitions, will not encourage behaviour that could lead to financial, social or emotional harm.

They also aim to prevent exploitation of the susceptibilities children and any suggestion that gambling can solve financial problems or enhance powers of seduction.

The Advertising Standards Authority will enforce the new rules and can insist advertisements are amended, withdrawn, or permanently banned. Serious breaches may be referred to either the Gambling Commission or the broadcast watchdog, Ofcom, for legal or regulatory sanctions.

Amid the current disarray in the Government’s plans to bring new casinos to 17 locations across the country, the fate of Torbay’s may now depend on the roll of the political dice in Westminster. But there’s no need to take a chance with your own gambling promotions. Get them checked, and play it safe.