Ireland Bans Two TonyBet YouTube Ads

Ireland’s advertising regulator has ordered the withdrawal of two YouTube advertisements by TonyBet after finding they breached national gambling standards. The Advertising Standards Authority for Ireland (ASAI) upheld complaints that the ads portrayed gambling as a way to make money and ease financial pressure.

The regulator reviewed the material under the ASAI Code and concluded that both promotions presented betting as a potential solution to personal financial difficulties. It instructed the operator to remove the advertisements and ruled they must not appear again in their current form. No further sanction was imposed.

Ads Deemed to Encourage Financial Expectations

One video showed a man using his phone while sitting on a toilet, accompanied by the message: “Only 3% of people can do this. Make money while sitting on the toilet.” A responsibility notice and terms and conditions appeared in a footnote.

The ASAI found that the wording implied gambling could generate income and reduced the perception of risk, breaching the code’s standards.

A second ad depicted a woman holding a baby. Text stated: “It’s hard to pay my rent and take care of my babies.” Later, the clip indicated she had made $8,500 in the previous month. In another version cited in the ruling, the wording appeared as: “it’s hard to pay my rent and take care of my babies” followed later by “But I made $8,500 last month.”

One complainant argued that the content had “targeted vulnerable individuals and perpetuated dangerous stereotypes, potentially encouraging harmful gambling behaviours”. The regulator agreed that the overall message suggested gambling could address hardship and therefore breached the code.

Operator Response and Compliance Measures

TonyBet confirmed it removed the ads and stated,“We have urgently discontinued non-compliant advertisements with immediate effect. We are fully committed to compliance with respective rules and regulations in the territory of Ireland.”

The company said it maintains internal guidance reflecting the ASAI Code and runs compliance checks through its Jira system. It attributed the breach to “human error” by a mobile affiliation partner, explaining that a new employee failed to review templates before distribution and that the company was not informed the ads would appear on YouTube.

The ruling recorded the explanation: “They said that the partner did not warn them that the advertising material would be launched for YouTube and due to high workload, the Tonybet Marketing team missed the material in question and campaign managers launched the material automatically, assuming it has passed the multiple checks.”

TonyBet has since increased its approval stages from two to five, organised additional training, and said it will review its relationship with the affiliate involved.

Earlier Action in the Netherlands

In the Netherlands, regulators previously warned TonyBet over failing to provide 24-hour Dutch-language customer service as required by licence conditions. Authorities later reprimanded the operator for offering bets on the Ballon d’Or and the Ballon d’Or at the FIFA Club World Cup, markets based on jury voting and therefore prohibited.

Source:

“Ireland’s ASA upholds two complaints against TonyBet YouTube adverts”, egr.globa, February 18, 2026