JOI Gaming faces €1m fine for role model advertising violation in the Netherlands
KSA warns operator further failings will result in a penalty after 2023 shortcomings related to annual motorsports event
The Netherlands Gambling Authority (KSA) has warned JOI Gaming it faces a €1m fine over the use of role models in its promotion of the 2023 Jack’s Racing Day event.
Ahead of last year’s event, which was held between 11 and 13 August, the operator used role models to sign hats sports caps? with the event logo and brand name of its Jack’s brand.
Photos of role models alongside hostesses wearing clothes branded with the Jack’s logo were posted on the Jack’s Racing Day website and its social media accounts including TikTok and Instagram – role models in promotions usually refer to known actors, celebrities, social media influencers or sports people.
The photos were still available to view online when the KSA imposed its warning.
In total, the operator used seven role models across its promotion material.
The KSA has since told JOI Gaming that it must pay a penalty of €50,000 per day if it does not remove the offending posts, up to a maximum fine of €250,000.
If the firm repeats the violation during the 2024 event, due to be held between 2 and 4 August, the fine will increase to €200,000 per day up to a maximum penalty of €1m.
JOI Gaming argued that there is a distinction between the event logo and the Jacks.nl logo and that Jack’s Racing Day “has no association with the Jacks.nl brand, nor can it be seen as an (indirect) recommendation of the online gambling offering from Jacks.nl”
The operator said this was due to there being no apostrophe in the word “Jacks” for its website, as opposed to Jack’s Racing Day for the event in question.
It further argued that there is no relationship between the role models and Jacks.nl so JOI Gaming cannot be held responsible if “role models visit the event on their own initiative and post something on their social media on which the brand name Jack’s is also visible”.
However, the KSA highlighted that JOI Gaming provided several names to the regulator on 19 November 2021, including Jack’s, Jack’s Casino and Jacks.nl as part of its licence application.
In its statement, the regulator said there were conscious actions to have role models alongside the Jack’s brand and that this was not a case of role models being photographed while “a hostess with Jack’s logo happens to walk by in the background”.
JOI was given a two-week grace period, until 10 July 2024, to remove “all recruitment and advertising communications from its own (social) media channels”.
However, it is not the first time JOI Gaming has been ordered to stop using role models in its advertising.
A previous violation was issued on 15 August 2022, after a role model’s voice was used in a podcast.
The voiceover was subsequently removed and the KSA decided against imposing a penalty.
In November that same year, the regulator ordered the operator to stop using role models to promote a sponsored event during the World Cup.
JOI Gaming did cease the activity but made it clear it did not agree with the KSA’s decision.