Advertising Standards Authority has decided to ban a Sky-branded TV campaign for glamorising gambling after it received a complaint.
The advertisement was created for the needs of Sky Vegas, which belongs to the Sky gaming group that is controlled by Rupert Murdoch’s pay-TV business. The ad showed an everyman individual named Michael who becomes a betting legend every time he gambles. Just like the voiceover highlighted, “he was doing his recycling” in the morning and then he became a roulette rock star at Sky Vegas “riding an electric riff of red and black.”
According to the ASA, Michael was depicted as having higher confidence, enhanced personality and qualities of a rock star when he gambled. The authority explained that even though there wasn’t any physical transformation in the campaign, there still was an apparent change in the character while he was playing roulette at Sky Vegas. In other words, the leap from an everyday person to a rock star made the advertisement unsuitable for viewers. ASA came to the conclusion that the ad promotes an idea that gambling enhances personal qualities of those that practice it and, therefore, banned it.
Bonne Terre gave a statement on the behalf of Sky Vegas, explaining that their character Michael felt the way he did, like a rock star, only because of the excitement of playing at their casino site. Terre highlighted that the advertisement didn’t have any reference that Michael was a musician and that his abilities were improved because of gambling.
Nevertheless, despite their stance that Michael remained the very same person with “the same everyday qualities” while playing at their gaming site, ASA didn’t seem to agree and refused to remove the ban.