Betfair Poker ad banned – Annette_15

Betfair poker has had one of their email adverts banned by the The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) as it “implied” the poker player shown in the advert was just 15 years old.

The (ASA) has upheld a complaint made about the advert, saying it “was likely to have particular appeal to children and young people, and that, by representing a successful young poker player with the implication she was 15 years old, it could encourage young people to gamble and was therefore irresponsible”.

The ad feature Annette Obrestad, a professional poker player who’s profile is rising in the game. The complaint was based around her poker handle ‘annette_15′ which could be mistaken as her age. Ms Obrestad is actually 20 years of age, which still breaks the gambling provisions age code which requires a minimum age of 25 for marketing purposes.

In their response, Betfair said it “did not target their marketing at under 18-year-olds”.

An ASA statement said Betfair “did not believe their ad would encourage children and young people to gamble, partly because of the media selection used to distribute the email and partly because of the technical measures they used to prevent children and young people from gambling on their site”.

“Notwithstanding that, Betfair said clear instructions had been given to their marketing department not to use Annette Obrestad again in marketing material directed at UK consumers and they were disappointed she had been, and apologised for the error.”

Personally I can see both points of the argument, but I do feel the right decision has been made.