ASA Rulings: Strong Appeal

Factors the ASA considered which indicated that the advertisement may be of Strong Appeal:

• Chris Rock's voice roles in child-focused films such as the Madagascar franchise and Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie were considered to have strong appeal to under-18s.
• The incident involving Chris Rock at the Academy Awards in 2022 and the subsequent memes could have potentially increased his appeal to a younger audience.

Factors the ASA considered which indicated that the advertisement may NOT be of Strong Appeal:

• Chris Rock's stand-up comedy and majority of film appearances were adult-orientated, dealing with themes not suitable for children.
• The roles he played in the child-focused films were exclusively voice-over parts and there was no visual or physical resemblance between those characters and his appearance in the ad
• The relevance and sharing of any meme associated with the 2022 Oscars incident would have significantly reduced by the time of the ad which was 18 months later.
• Chris Rock's appearances in the Grown Ups franchise was not considered to mean that he would have strong appeal to under-18s due to the time elapsed since release and the role of his character as a stay-at-home father.
• The ad's presentation was aimed at adults. Whilst the speedboat and lion may have been of interest to children, they appeared alongside more adult-orientated elements such as an orchestra playing a song by Public Enemy (who had become popular in the 1980s) and the Bellagio fountain.
• Chris Rock's social media was predominantly followed by adults, with under-18 followers constituting less than 1% of his global audience. For his UK audience, the estimated number of followers under 18yrs was approximately 567 on X and 508 on Instagram.
• The ad's content, including the attire worn by Chris Rock (a tuxedo) and the setting, did not reflect youth culture and was unlikely to attract the attention of under-18s.

Factors the ASA considered which indicated that the advertisement may be of Strong Appeal:

• The ad featured cartoon imagery of Santa and an elf, characters traditionally associated with Christmas, which is a concept likely to appeal to children.
• The colourful and cartoonish depiction of these characters further increased their appeal to a younger audience.
• Although the ad was targeted to those over 25 years old, Facebook was a platform where users self-verified their age on sign-up, and did not use robust age-verification, therefore the ad did not sufficiently exclude under-18s from its audience.

Factors the ASA considered which indicated that the advertisement may NOT be of Strong Appeal:

• The ASA stated that it would have been acceptable for the advertisement to appear in a medium where under-18s could be entirely excluded from the audience by robust age-verification such as marketing lists that had been validated by payment data or credit checking.

Factors the ASA considered which indicated that the advertisement may be of Strong Appeal:

• The advert contained cartoon imagery, animated graphics and phrases (such as the word "monster", as part of the ad's 'MONSTER MONDAYS' catchphrase) that were reminiscent of children's content, contributing to the impression that the ad was designed to appeal to under-18s.
• The ASA stated that ads should avoid child-like background imagery, such as that common in nursery rhymes or children's stories.
• The advert was posted on Facebook, where users self-verify their age on customer sign-up, rather than being subject to robust age-verification, and the ASA therefore considered that the advertisement had not sufficiently excluded under-18s from its audience.

Factors the ASA considered which indicated that the advertisement may NOT be of Strong Appeal:

• The ASA stated that it would have been acceptable for the advertisement to appear in a medium where under-18s could be entirely excluded from the audience by robust age-verification, such as marketing lists that had been validated by payment data or credit checking.

Factors the ASA considered which indicated that the advertisement may be of Strong Appeal

• Joshua had endorsement deals with adult-focused brands (Jaguar Land Rover, William Hill and Hugo Boss) but also brands popular with under-18s including Under Armour, Beats By Dre and JD Sports.
• Joshua had a significant social media presence, with a total of 29.3 million followers across all platforms. At least 1.1 million of these followers were aged under 18, which the ASA considered to be a substantially high number.
• The ASA acknowledged Betfred’s view that only UK specific data should be considered. They were unable to provide UK data on each social media platform specifically but if Betfred’s estimation was accurate, at least 280,000 followers aged under 18 were following him in the UK which the ASA considered a significant number in absolute terms.

Factors the ASA considered which indicated that the advertisement may NOT be of Strong Appeal

• The ASA considered boxing to be an adult-oriented sport with low appeal to under-18s.
• Joshua's had appeared on numerous talk shows and sports-related shows. Although he had been a storyteller in a CBeebies Bedtime Story in 2022, the ASA said that most of the programmes he appeared in were primarily aimed at adult audiences and that the majority of his other media appearances were focused around boxing, a sport which was not likely to be of strong appeal to children.

Factors the ASA considered which indicated that the advertisement may be of Strong Appeal

• The advertisement was posted on X (Twitter). The ASA considered that because the platform was a media environment where users self-verified their age on customer sign-up, and did not use robust age-verification, the advertisement had not excluded under-18s from its audience.
• Gary Neville had an active social media presence on TikTok, Facebook and Instagram. The ASA assessed what percentage of his followers were registered as being under-18. Although data for his TikTok and Facebook followers was not available, the ASA ascertained that he had least 135,000 total followers aged under-18 across X (Twitter) and Instagram. Despite constituting a small percentage of his total followers across these platforms (1% and 5% for X and Instagram, respectively), the ASA considered the aggregate number of under-18 followers to be a "significant number in absolute terms", meaning he was of inherent strong appeal.

Factors the ASA considered which indicated that the advertisement may NOT be of Strong Appeal

• He had represented England on the international stage and he played top-flight football in the Premier League, but his last appearance at a top-flight level was 12 years ago.
• Since retiring from professional football, he now works as a regular, well-known pundit across several programmes with Sky Sports and ITV. Data did not show that a significant number of children watched these programs and did not show a particular appeal to under-18s. Many of his TV appearances were scheduled later in the evening, post-9pm, making it unlikely they were regularly watched by young children. In a similar manner to the Micah Richards ruling (see above), the ASA stated that his role in these punditry discussions would be unlikely to be of strong appeal to under-18s in the way that an 'active' player or manager would appeal as an aspirational figure to under-18s.
• His history of commercial partnerships, podcast appearances and branding deals were adult focused.
• He did not have an active social media presence on YouTube, Twitch or Snapchat.

Factors the ASA considered which indicated that the advertisement may NOT be of Strong Appeal

• Robbie Savage had represented Wales on the international stage and he played football for a number of Premier League teams but his last appearance in a top-flight team was 15 years ago.
• He had appeared on football-related TV and radio shows such as BT Sports Score, the 606 show and a BBC Three documentary, but these were aimed at adults.
• He had also appeared on Strictly Come Dancing, but it was over a decade ago, in 2011.
• After assessing his social media presence, where he had 1.6 million Twitter followers, 133,000 Instagram followers and 99,000 Facebook followers, the ASA concluded that his total of 8,810 social media followers aged under 18 did not suggest a strong appeal to that age group.

Factors the ASA considered which indicated that the advertisement may be of Strong Appeal

• The CAP guidance states that those who participate in football at an elite level - particularly UK footballers playing for top clubs - were likely to appeal strongly to children and young persons.
• Granit Xhaka was held to be of particularly strong appeal as he played for Arsenal at the time of the ad and was the captain of the Swiss national team, meaning that he would be well known to both fans of the club and those who followed (Premier League) football more generally - including children.
• Although there were controls to ensure the content would only be promoted to those over the age of 25, X (formerly Twitter) was a platform where users self-verified their age on sign-up, and did not use robust age-verification, so the ad did not sufficiently exclude under-18s from its audience.

Factors the ASA considered which indicated that the advertisement may NOT be of Strong Appeal

• The ASA stated that it would have been acceptable for the advertisement to appear in a medium where under-18s could be entirely excluded from the audience by robust age-verification such as marketing lists that had been validated by payment data or credit checking.

Factors the ASA considered which indicated that the advertisement may be of Strong Appeal 

• The ASA said that well-known athletes, especially top-level tennis players with a considerable national profile, were regarded as high risk under the CAP guidance.
• The four tennis players in the ads, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Nick Kyrgios and Stefanos Tsitsipas, had all played in a Grand Slam final in the previous year. All had achieved significant success in tennis with Djokovic and Nadal being considered the best players in the world for years. Kyrgios reached the Wimbledon final in 2022 and Tsitsipas reached the final of the Australian Open in 2023. Both of these tournaments were high profile events with a lot of media coverage and therefore likely to be of strong appeal to those under the age of 18.
• Although the vast majority of these players' followers on social media were over 18 and their commercial partnerships were adult-focused, on balance the ASA still considered them to be of strong appeal.
• Also, although the ad was targeted to those over 25 years old, X (formerly Twitter) was a platform where users self-verified their age on sign-up, and did not use robust age-verification, therefore the ad did not sufficiently exclude under-18s from its audience.

Factors the ASA considered which indicated that the advertisement may NOT be of Strong Appeal

• The ASA stated that it would have been acceptable for the advertisement to appear in a medium where under-18s could be entirely excluded from the audience by robust age-verification such as marketing lists that had been validated by payment data or credit checking.

Factors the ASA considered which indicated that the advertisement may be of Strong Appeal

• The ASA noted that managers of top clubs were likely to be of strong appeal to under-18s, including managers of Premier League football teams, especially current managers, regardless of whether they had a social media presence.
• The ASA acknowledged that whilst the ads were targeted at over-25s and users under-18 could not access the Ladbroke's Twitter feed, Twitter (now 'X') was a media environment whereby users self-verify their age on customer sign-up, rather than being subject to robust age-verification, and therefore considered that the advertisement had not sufficiently excluded under-18s from its audience.

Factors the ASA considered which indicated that the advertisement may NOT be of Strong Appeal

• The ASA stated that it would have been acceptable for the advertisement to appear in a medium where under-18s could be entirely excluded from the audience by robust age-verification such as marketing lists that had been validated by payment data or credit checking.

Factors the ASA considered which indicated that the advertisement may be of Strong Appeal 

• The ASA's CAP Guidance states that a sportsperson who is involved in a sport that has a limited following among under-18s, but is nonetheless well known for their social media activity and media profile through involvement in youth culture-related areas, such as fashion or music, is more likely to be of strong appeal to under-18s.
• The ASA considered that because Jake Paul has such a large number of followers on social media that are under 18, he was inherently of strong appeal to under-18s.
• Jake Paul featured on a children's TV programme about two teenagers from 2016 to 2018. The ASA considered that had the target audience watched the programme when it aired, it would be likely that some of the audience would still have been under-18 when the ad was published. Whilst the programme ended in 2019, the ASA considered that Jake Paul was still well-known for appearing in the programme and that it was still available to view on UK streaming services.

Factors the ASA considered which indicated that the advertisement may NOT be of Strong Appeal

• Boxing is an adult-oriented sport and one that has low appeal to under-18s.

Factors the ASA considered which indicated that the advertisement may be of Strong Appeal

• The ASA noted that sportspeople involved in clearly adult-oriented sports who were ‘notable’ stars with significant social media and general profiles which made them well-known to under-18s were considered ‘moderate risk’ of being of strong appeal within the CAP Guidance.
• The ASA noted that including people in gambling ads who had a TikTok account and a large number of followers under-18 was a risk.

Factors the ASA considered which indicated that the advertisement may NOT be of Strong Appeal

• The ASA noted that boxing was an adult-oriented sport and was unlikely to be of strong appeal to under-18s.
• The ASA also noted that the viewing data for the boxing match showed that the majority of viewers were adults, and therefore the ASA did not consider the event itself likely to be of strong appeal to under-18s.
• The ASA evaluated Chris Eubank JR's social media following, noting that he had 10,905 followers who were registered as under-18 from his 1.7 million followers across social media, which did not suggest a strong appeal to those who were under-18. He had a TikTok account with 31.7% of followers under-18, but the ASA considered this was not significant in absolute terms as his total number of followers on that platform was only 21,000.
• The ASA also considered Chris Eubank JR's appearances on the TV show Celebrity GoggleBox. As the show was broadcast after 9pm, the ASA considered it was primarily aimed at an adult audience. The ASA also noted that his appearance in the show was limited and therefore unlikely to change his level of appeal to under-18s.
• There was nothing in the way he was presented in the ad to make him of strong appeal to under-18s.

Factors the ASA considered which indicated that the advertisement may be of Strong Appeal

• The CAP Guidance states that football is the most prominent subject of strong appeal to under-18s and footballers who played at an elite level, especially those who were successful internationally, were likely to appeal strongly to children.
• The CAP Guidance also states that non-UK ‘star’ footballers, particularly those at top-flight European clubs, were considered high risk of being of strong appeal to under-18s.
• The two footballers in question were current players at FC Barcelona (one of the most widely supported clubs in the world) at the time of the ad and both had played for the Spanish national team and had several appearances in the Champions League. The ASA also noted that both players had captained Spain and being a captain would be likely to make a player more well-known and admired by under-18s, particularly being captain of a national team.
• The advertisement was posted on Facebook. The ASA considered that because Facebook was a media environment where users self-verified their age on customer sign-up, and did not use robust age-verification, the advertisement had not excluded under-18s from its audience.

Factors the ASA considered which indicated that the advertisement may NOT be of Strong Appeal

• The ASA stated that it would have been acceptable for the advertisement to appear in a medium where under-18s could be entirely excluded from the audience by robust age-verification such as marketing lists that had been validated by payment data or credit checking.

Factors the ASA considered which indicated that the advertisement may be of Strong Appeal

• The ASA noted that if the ad had been broadcasted earlier in Peter Crouch's career, during the period when he played football for Tottenham, Liverpool, Aston Villa or the England national team, the ad would have likely been of strong appeal.

Factors the ASA considered which indicated that the advertisement may NOT be of Strong Appeal

• The ASA evaluated Peter Crouch's professional career, noting that, since 2011, he had played for less popular clubs and, as a result, would not have been of strong appeal to under-18s at the time the ads were broadcast. He retired from professional football in 2019.
• The ASA noted that Peter Crouch had a very small number of followers on Twitter who were under-18 and that he did not have public profiles on Facebook, Tik Tok or Twitch and had not posted on Instagram for a long time.
• The ASA also noted that most of the TV programmes Peter Crouch had been involved in were aimed at adults, as was his podcast, and his commercial partnerships were with adult-focused brands.
• The ASA also considered whether the Christmas focus of the ad made it more likely to appeal strongly to under-18s. The ASA decided that whilst the ads made clear references to Christmas, there was nothing depicted in relation to Christmas that would have been of strong appeal to children, such as depicting Santa Claus.

Factors the ASA considered which indicated that the advertisement may be of Strong Appeal

• The CAP Guidance classes retired footballers who had moved into punditry as being of ‘moderate risk’ of strong appeal to under-18s and stated that they would predominantly be assessed based on their social and other media profiles.
• The ASA said that live Premier League games would be of strong appeal to under-18s.
• The CBBC show "Football Academy" was likely to be of strong appeal to under-18s. If someone appeared regularly and prominently on such a programme it is likely they would be of strong appeal.

Factors the ASA considered which indicated that the advertisement may NOT be of Strong Appeal

• Micah Richard's career as an England footballer had ended in 2012 and he had not been a Premier League player since 2015, which was eight years before the ad. So he was now more likely to be well known as both a sports pundit and brand ambassador for Sky Bet than playing football.
• He was a regular and well-known pundit on Match of the Day (MoD) who had also made regular appearances on other football related TV shows as well as appearing on Gogglebox and as a panel member on Sky's A League of their Own. Data did not show that a significant number of children watched MoD live and did not show a particular appeal to under-18s. Many of his TV appearances were scheduled later in the evening, post-9pm, making it unlikely they were regularly watched by young children.
• Micah Richards appeared on a CBBC programme called Football Academy but the episode had not been aired by the time the ad was seen; only a preview had aired and his appearance was of short duration.
• The ASA considered that the strong appeal of live Premier League games to under-18s was unlikely to extend to the pundit-based discussion. He had a column in the Daily Mail, ads for Auto Trader, and an autobiography, all of which were adult-focused.
• Micah Richards did not have public accounts on YouTube, TikTok or Twitch, and had a small following of under-18s on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
• The ASA acknowledged he did have direct links to Premier League football, which was of inherent strong appeal to children, but considered that his social and other media profiles were predominantly adult-oriented.
• There was nothing in the way he was presented in the ad to make him of strong appeal to under-18s.

Factors the ASA considered which indicated that the advertisement may be of Strong Appeal

• The ASA noted that Premier League footballers were considered to carry a high risk of being of strong appeal to under-18s as well as those who played at an elite level. The ASA further noted that the three footballers were likely to be of strong appeal because they were current Premier League footballers and had all played football at an international level.
• Even though Ladbroke's Twitter feed could not be accessed by users under-18 and they had also targeted the ad to reach only over-25s, this was not enough. The ASA did not consider that marketing data inferred from user behaviour was sufficient to meet this threshold. This was predominantly because the advertisement was displayed on Twitter (now 'X') – a media environment which relies upon user self-verification rather than age-verification.

Factors the ASA considered which indicated that the advertisement may NOT be of Strong Appeal

• The ASA stated that it would have been acceptable for the advertisement to appear in a medium where under-18s could be entirely excluded from the audience by robust age-verification such as marketing lists that had been validated by payment data or credit checking.