William Hill online bingo ads incur ASA’s wrath

William%20Hill%2C%20BingoThe Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has banned a William Hill ad that showed a housewife tricking her husband into leaving for work early so she could play bingo online.

The ASA received seven complaints about the ad for William Hill’s online bingo games. It showed a woman moving a clock forward so that her husband thinks he is late for work. After he leaves, she rushes to the computer to play bingo.

The complainants said the ad, which was created by Home, depicted someone who was addicted to gambling and was attempting to hide it from their family by deception.

William Hill argued the ad was humorous, but the ASA ruled that the woman’s actions, in conjunction with the comment “I get mine the minute he has left”, implied that the woman was desperate to play bingo and wished to keep it secret from her husband.

• Meanwhile, travel company TUI has been told not to run TV and press ads promoting the legroom on its aircraft.
The ASA received six complaints about the ads, raising concerns over the use of the term legroom instead of “seat pitch”, which measures the distance from seat to seat, and impressionistic drawings used to illustrate the space available.

The ASA upheld the complaints and has ordered the ads not to run in their current form.