ASA hits out at Ladbrokes over Jake Paul tweet
Advertising watchdog rules social media star holds strong appeal among under-18s as Entain-owned operator deemed to have broken CAP code
Ladbrokes has been found to have violated the CAP code by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) after a tweet with reference to Jake Paul was deemed “irresponsible” by the watchdog.
The promoted tweet contained an image of professional boxer and personality Paul, asking people to vote on what was the likeliest career move for the social media influencer following his defeat to Tommy Fury in February.
The complaint focused on whether or not Paul would be of strong appeal to those under 18, which, if so, would breach the CAP Code.
In response, Ladbrokes said the tweet was published following soon after Paul’s fight with Fury and there were no calls to action, special offers or links to the operator’s site.
The operator also said its tweets and Twitter feed were age-gated and couldn’t be accessed by anyone who the social media platform had verified as being under 18.
Ladbrokes also argued that as per the CAP guidance, boxing was not listed as being of moderate or high risk in terms of appeal to under-18s. The operator also made the case it had done its due diligence around Paul’s follower demographic, brand partnerships and sponsorships.
The Entain-owned firm considered that Paul didn’t have a significant enough role in boxing or profile within the sport to appeal to that demographic, plus his current partnerships and sponsorships are with an alcohol brand and cryptocurrency firm.
Ladbrokes said the tweet was boosted to target users over the age of 25 and had received 16,494 impressions, of which, 47.1% were aged between 20 and 29.
The operator also examined Paul’s social media following. On Instagram, 13% of his followers were registered as being between 13 and 17. On YouTube, 16% of his subscribers were between 13 and 17 and on TikTok, 18% of his followers sat in this demographic. However, on Twitter, 0% of Paul’s followers were aged between 13 and 17.
Despite the evidence provided by Ladbrokes, the ASA upheld the claim.
The ASA said that while boxing does have low appeal to those under 18, Paul is mainly known for his YouTube career and would have a wide profile within boxing and social media. The watchdog also noted that because Paul appeared on the children’s TV show Bizaardvark from 2016 to 2018 on Disney Channel, he would carry a strong appeal to under-18s.
The ASA said the show, despite having ended in 2019 in the US, was still available on UK streaming sites.
On Ladbrokes’ challenge regarding social media follower demographics, the ASA asserted that around three million of Paul’s 65 million followers were registered as under 18 across YouTube, TikTok and Instagram.
The ASA reasoned that this large number of followers under 18 strongly indicated Paul was of inherent strong appeal to under-18s.
The watchdog therefore concluded the promoted tweet irresponsible and breached the CAP code and as a result cannot be used in its current form. Ladbrokes was instructed not to include a person or character who had a strong appeal to those under 18 years of age.