The Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) has upheld two complaints against Ladbrokes for an advertisement that was deemed to be of strong appeal to those under the age of 18 and in breach of the BCAP and CAP Code.
The advert in question from the Entain brand featured ‘Ladbucks’, the operator’s free-to-play games currency, and was aired on TV and video-on-demand on 17 December 2024 and 23 December 2024, respectively.
Imagery of coins with the initials ‘Lb’ was shown in the advert, alongside text that said “100m LADBUCKS”, FREE BETS” and “FREE SPINS”.
A voiceover in the advert stated: “This is a Ladbuck, the new way to get rewarded at Ladbrokes, and these are some of the 100 million Ladbucks that will be dropping weekly. Collect them on our free-to-play games and choose rewards like free spins, free bets and more.
“Over 100 million Ladbucks dropping every single week. Plus, you can even use them to play your favourite games for free in our Ladbucks arcade. Like Fishin Frenzy and Goldstrike. Start collecting at Ladbrokes.com.”
Ladbrokes contests Ladbucks’ appeal to minors
The reason why it is believed the term ‘Ladbucks’ could be of strong appeal to minors is because of its similarities to the in-game currencies of ‘V-bucks’ from Fortnite and ‘Robux’ from Roblox, two games popular with under-18s.
Ladbrokes argued that Ladbucks could only be used by logged-in, verified users over 18, couldn’t be purchased, had no monetary value, expired if not used, lacked a general market value with an exchange rate, and couldn’t be universally used across all products on its website.
Additionally, the Entain brand said each eligible product or offer had a set value, which was in contrast to in-game currency products, and that the term ‘Ladbucks’ was a play on the word Ladbrokes.
The operator argued that the term ‘bucks’ is “known as a colloquialism for dollars and was widely used to refer to money or a unit of currency in many contexts, which included video games”, had no origins in youth culture, and they believed it wasn’t of inherent strong appeal to under-18s.
Ladbrokes noted that both ads “had targeting restrictions to reduce the likelihood of children viewing them” and believed the term “was not associated with any coins from videogames which were popular with under-18s”.
It was highlighted by the operator that ‘V-bucks’ from Fortnite and ‘Robux’ from Roblox were in-game currencies that had to be purchased before being used to buy in-game items, certain elements of Robux required parental consent, and the purchaser of subscription services must be over 18.
As a result, Ladbrokes said the term bucks was the only similarity between those coins and Ladbucks, adding that the rewards programme was reviewed in its entirety with a conclusion that there was no risk of the term being associated with Fortnite or Roblox.
The operator also argued that other industries use reward schemes and that using poker chip imagery was suitable for a licensed gambling operator, and so argued that there was nothing in the advert’s imagery and content that shared similarities with either of the games.
The Entain brand also mentioned that they didn’t believe the term ‘lad’ “referred to a boy or young man”, and said their brand had never been used in that context, that Clearcast didn’t believe the term ‘Ladbucks’ appealed strongly to children or that the tokens were similar to in-game currencies.
Meanwhile, the broadcaster that showed the advert on its streaming service, Channel 4, believed the advert was compliant with the code.
ASA upholds complaints
In response, the ASA believed the Ladbucks name and appearance could be of appeal to minors due to their similarities to the in-game currencies of ‘V-bucks’ from Fortnite and ‘Robux’ from Roblox and how many under 18s play video games.
The agency also stated that Ladbucks, through the suffix ‘bucks’, had strong similarities with in-game currencies Robux and V-bucks because the latter Fortnite currency is a shortened version of ‘Vindertech’ bucks, which was a fictional company in the video game, and so similarly constructed.
Regarding the term ‘lad’, the ASA disagreed with Ladbrokes and said the term ‘lad’ was a colloquial term for a boy or young man, and so in the ad’s context alongside the word buck, it would have been recognised and of appeal to some minors.
In addition, the ASA noted that the Ladbuck poker chip design has the same characteristics as the V-buck, while the Robux’s previous iteration was also of a similar appearance.
Although Ladbrokes’ position as a gambling operator was acknowledged as a reason behind the design, the ASA stated that it was not poker chip imagery in isolation, but the token’s imagery alongside the term Ladbucks that was likely to have been perceived by many under-18s as similar to video game in-game currencies that are of strong appeal to minors.
It was also noted that the use of Ladbucks in an online store and arcade was “likely to be reminiscent of the way in-game currencies Robux and V-bucks were used” and therefore increase its appeal to minors.
The ASA stated: “For those reasons, we concluded the name Ladbucks, when considered alongside the imagery and the application of the coin in the ads, was depicted in a manner which was similar to features in video games popular with children. We therefore considered the term in the ads was likely to be of strong appeal to under-18s and breached the Code.”
The agency added that the adverts must not appear again in their current form, and Ladbrokes has been told not to feature content in their adverts that has a strong appeal to under-18s or is reflective of youth culture.