UK Bans Ambiguous Advert from Mr Green Online Casino

While Mr Green Casino has been revelling in impressive levels of success, the Swedish online casino firm has fallen fowl of tough UK gambling laws regarding TV adverts. Indeed, Mr Green’s slick ad promoting 20 free spins on the Victorious slot game has been banned by the Advertising Standards Authority for misleading information.

The advertisement featured a voice-over that proclaimed: “Mr Green. Mr Green. Where will he take you today? From Arctic Siberia to outer space. Medieval forest to sunny Miami. Do battle in imperial Rome when you play Victorious”, while displaying terms and conditions in tiny text.

The terms and conditions read: “Offer valid for 30 days. Must wager 35x bonus to withdraw winnings. Other T&C’s apply. No deposit required”, but it was their presence on the screen prior to the offer of free spins rather than simultaneously that caused the problems.

After the small text disappeared, the voice-over continued: “Choose from a huge range of Casino games at MrGreen.com”, followed by large text on the screen saying: “20 FREE SPINS ON VICTORIOUS” all together with a voice-over that stated: “Join now and get twenty free spins”.

Mr Green – whose UK internet casino has gained popularity in recent times – explained the misunderstanding, while also stressing that the specific wording was approved by the advertising provider Clearcast.

Clearcast on the other hand, declared that they approved the pre-production script with the explanatory disclaimer and the ‘20 free spins’ claim on the screen at the same time. They also offered further clarifications regarding the text length and size of the disclaimer.

Despite all the additional explanations provided by the online and mobile casino, as well as the advertising company, the ASA still ruled that the advert should not be broadcasted in this version, since the misleading nature is not in favour of the players.