TonyBet's 'I made $8,500 last month' single-mum ad pulled by ASAI

A sponsored YouTube advertisement for TonyBet's sports betting casino depicted a woman holding a baby, with text reading: "It's hard to pay my rent and take care of my babies." She was later shown giving a thumbs up, with text: "But I made $8,500 last month." A footnote carried the terms and conditions of the promoted offer.

Two complainants objected that the ad depicted gambling as financially beneficial and created the dangerous impression that gambling could resolve personal or financial difficulties, targeted vulnerable individuals and perpetuated harmful stereotypes.

ASAI's Complaints Council upheld the complaint. It considered that "I made $8,500 last month" strongly indicated gambling would be a source of income, and that encouraging such a belief could lead to financial harm. The advertisement was held to depict gambling in a positive manner and must not reappear in its current form. Code sections 3.3 and 10.12(a)(b)(c)(j)(k) were breached.

TonyBet said it urgently discontinued the non-compliant ads. The creative had been handled by a mobile affiliate partner who had expanded their team; a new employee did not check the templates against internal guidelines before uploading, and the marketing team launched the campaign on the assumption the checks had passed. TonyBet raised the compliance concerns internally, added training, and reviewed its approval process, increasing the number of approval steps from two to five.