Advertising watchdog cautions Ladbrokes following 'irresponsible' tweet

Ladbrokes have received a slap on the wrist from the advertising watchdog over an "irresponsible" tweet featuring YouTuber and boxer Jake Paul.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) took action after investigating whether the ad broke rules banning gambling marketing appealing to children.

The promoted tweet by Ladbrokes contained an image featuring Paul and was sent following his fight with Tommy Fury in Saudi Arabia in February. It also featured a poll asking what Paul would do next in his career.

The ASA challenged whether the ad included someone who was likely to appeal to under-18s, and therefore breached advertising codes.

In their defence, Ladbrokes said the tweet was published after the fight and included no calls to action, promotional offers or links back to their website. They also pointed out that their Twitter feed and respective tweets were age-gated and could not be accessed by users unless Twitter had accepted their age as being over 18.

Ladbrokes argued that under the advertising guidance, boxing was not listed as being of moderate or high risk in terms of appeal to under-18s, and that before publishing the ad they had assessed Paul’s follower demographic, brand partnerships and sponsorships to assess the level of risk.

Jake Paul (left): boxer is well known through YouTubeCredit: Michael Reaves

Nevertheless, the ASA said Paul's career on YouTube meant he was well known outside the sport of boxing and through social media.

Paul's previous appearances on a children's programme, still available on the Disney Channel, also led the ASA to argue he was of "strong appeal" to under-18s.

The ASA added: "For those reasons, we considered that the ad was irresponsible and breached the code."

Ladbrokes were told the advert should not appear again in its current form and not to include anyone of strong appeal to children again in their marketing.

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