The encyclopedia · Advertising & PR · Marketing decision · 2025
Hollywoodbets' banner reached a 16-year-old — the ASA banned it as directed at under-18s
An esports stats site served a '£30 back + 20 free spins' banner to a logged-in 16-year-old. The ASA: the media selection itself was the breach.
Hollywoodbets · 2025-07-23
What happened
On 10 April 2025 a banner ad for Hollywoodbets appeared on the-VFL.com, an esports statistics site for EA FC. The banner showed the Hollywoodbets logo, the text 'UP TO £30 BACK AS FREE BETS + 20 FREE SPINS', a 'SIGN HERE' button, and images of a footballer, tennis player, golfer, American footballer and jockey.
The ad was placed by the operator's affiliate partner, Playhill Ltd t/a Clever Advertising. A user of the site who was under 18 and had registered their date of birth complained. Clever Advertising argued the site's competitive football gameplay attracted older, mature players, that demographic data showed children were less than 25% of EA Sports FC players, and that the ad had been approved for display on the homepage before login.
The ASA upheld the complaint on 23 July 2025. Because the ad was served to a user known to be under 18 through their registered login details, the ASA considered it 'directed at those below the age of 18 through the selection of the media in which it appeared', breaching CAP Code rules 16.1, 16.3 and 16.3.13. The ad must not appear again without specific targeting to minimise exposure to under-18s.
Why it happened
- The site held the answer and served the ad anyway: the user's registered age made the targeting — and the breach — personal
- Averages about who usually plays EA FC could not answer the only question that mattered: who was this particular user
- One complainant was enough: when the media owner knows a visitor is 16, no demographic argument can un-know it
The lesson
A demographic profile is not a person. When a site holds a user's registered age, serving a gambling banner to that user is the breach — averages do not override a login that says 16.
Aftermath
The ad must not appear again unless specifically targeted to minimise under-18 exposure. The ruling, published 23 July 2025, was one of a series in which the ASA treated serving gambling creative to a known under-18 user as a breach of the media-selection rule itself. iGaming Business and SBC News covered the case as a warning to operators and their affiliate networks: demographics and platform averages do not excuse a placement aimed at a registered minor.
Sources
- ASA ruling: Hollywoodbets International UK Ltd (banner ad on the-VFL.com)
- iGaming Business: Hollywoodbets ad banned for targeting under-18s
spotted an error? The club wants to know.
More like this
Disney's Predator: Badlands poster was banned for showing a severed body
Qatar Airways' 'Travel consciously' carbon-offset claims were ruled misleading
Simplicity Cremations' 'funeral plan' ads hid that no one attends the cremation
Somewhere, someone solved the problem this company failed at. 2nd Opinion →
Comments · 0
Sign in to join the comments.