The videos involved Airey, a YouTuber better known as Calfreezy, promoting the 888poker app. They took place in August 2021.
Two complainants, who believed Airey had a large following with young people, said the ads were directed towards those aged below 18 years, and had a particular appeal to children.
888 noted that the two videos were ads for which they paid Airey and had editorial control, explaining that one ad was not initially labelled as an ad, but has since been amended and was now described accurately.
The company also noted that at least 75% of Airey’s followers were over 18, therefore the ads were not targeted at children. The YouTuber backed up this statement by supplying three screenshots from his YouTube analytics to show audience numbers broken down by age, with the first ad showing that 7.5% of the audience had been under 18, and the second ad showing that 6% of the audience were under 18. The figures did not breach the 25% ASA threshold.
888 added that Airey was over 25 years old, while Responsible Gambling and 18+ logos appeared on both videos, with an 18+ verbal disclaimer featuring on both ads.
The ASA concluded that having investigated the ads under CAP Code rules 16.1 and 16.3.12, no breach was found, and therefore no further action was necessary.
