The UK could be about to ban celebrities from appearing in betting and gambling advertisements. 

The Committees of Advertising Practice (CAP) has launched a public consultation on the proposed ban, saying it is part of its drive to stop advertisers targeting under-18s. 

Advertisements that are deemed likely to appeal to under-18s are already banned in the UK, but the proposed blanket celebrity ban would apply to all advertisements, even if they were clearly targeted at adults.  Additionally, the proposals call for the rules about imagery, themes and characters to be strengthened further, to include characters’ behaviour, language, fashion, and appearance etc. 

Discussing the proposals Director of the Committees of Advertising Practice, Shahriar Coupal, said:

“The consultation proposes a strengthening of our rules and guidance which will help us in our ongoing work to prevent children, young and other vulnerable people from being harmed or exploited by gambling advertising. 

“It responds to valuable research commissioned by GambleAware that has highlighted how gambling ads have more potential than previously understood to adversely impact these audiences – that’s something we take very seriously and that we are aiming to address.”

Though the CAP has so far resisted growing calls for a complete advertising ban, it has said it thinks celebrities should be banned from featuring in such adverts. By way of an example, the CAP said that, under its new rule, the England football captain would be prohibited from featuring in gambling advert. 

AYO.NEWS says:

It doesn’t take a genius to realise the absurdity of these proposals. In the age of social media, who exactly is going to define what constitutes a celebrity? And, who is going to define what fashions or actions are acceptable?

The simplistic example (England football captain) shows just how basic the CAP team really is, and the entire episode is indicative of how the committee has been hijacked by politically-correct, nanny state insanity. 

Really, if the CAP is going to go this far, they should just shoot for the heart, and ban all gambling advertising, rather than creating yet another unworkable nightmare. 

Illustrating just what a minefield the UK market has already become for operators, earlier today Betsson announced it is immediately withdrawing 8 out of its 9 brands from the market, citing the constantly changing regulatory environment in the country as one of the reasons.

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