A Betway ad featuring young West Ham footballer Declan Rice has been banned, due to the player being under 25 years of age.
A YouTube ad on the Betway account, seen in October, promoted the gambling company. The video opened with an image in the style of a car parking fine with the Betway logo at the top and went on to depict a prank played on Rice, with the penultimate screen showing the tagline “Heed your Hunch”. The video ended with the word “betway” on the screen which divided to read, “bet the responsible way. 18+ begambleaware.org”.
A complaint was lodged with the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) challenging whether it breached its code due to featuring Rice, who is under 25 years of age.
The complaint was upheld, with the ASA deciding that the ad promoted the brand, with the “Heed your Hunch” claim considered to be encouraging consumers to think about placing a bet.
The ASA stated: “The ad must not appear again in its current form. We told Betway Ltd to remove the ad and ensure that they did not feature individuals who were under the age of 25 playing a significant role in marketing communications on social media.”
