This has not been a good week marketing-wise for the online gambling group Cassava-888 which first saw its ad banned by the UK Advertising Standards Authority and then experienced a similar ordeal in Italy, where the country’s newly established Advertising Self-Regulatory Court scrutinized 888’s television advert.
In the ad, an online slots fan is showered with gold coins after a lucky late night hit, which was assessed by the court as an inappropriate comparison of gambling to financial planning.
It still has not pronounced its decision regarding the punishment for 888, but it is assumed that it will include taking the offending advert down, and perhaps even a heavy fine, as envisaged by the regulations dealing with offenders of the advertising rules.
This is the new advertising regulator’s first prosecution implementing new Italian advertising restrictions introduced at the beginning of this year.
