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ASA bans another two Profit Accumulator ads

The Advertising Standards Authority has banned two ads from Profit Accumulator for the second time this year.

The UK’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has banned two adverts from the matched betting and casino bonus finder service Profit Accumulator.

This marks the second time the ASA has banned Profit Accumulator’s ads this year.

The banned ads

The complaint dealt with two separate messages advertising Profit Accumulator’s service. 

The first ad was a paid Facebook post from 9 June which featured a video explaining how Profit Accumulator’s services work. This video included a testimonial from a customer who said: “This is my 45th day of isolation … this money is so welcome as I haven’t earned anything in six weeks.” 

The video was accompanied by a voiceover that said: “It is almost statistically certain that you will make a profit if you do enough offers.”

The second ad was messaging that appeared on Profit Accumulator’s website, BonusAccumulator.com, which said: “Unlock the profits of casino offers. Learn how some members make thousands a month from casino offers.”

This site also featured a video that included a line that said: “casino bonuses are not gambling because just like matched betting, we give you an edge that allows you to beat the bookies.”

The complainant raised three issues with the ads, the first issue raised was that the testimonial in the Facebook post was “was socially irresponsible because it suggested that casino bonus hunting could be a way to achieve financial security.” Another issue with the Facebook ad was that the line “It is almost statistically certain that you will make a profit” was “misleading and could not be substantiated.”

The complainant also raised an issue with both ads as the line “It is almost statistically certain that you will make a profit if you do enough offers” in the Facebook ad and “casino bonuses are not gambling because just like matched betting, we give you an edge that allows you to beat the bookies…” on BonusAccumulator,  were socially irresponsible.

Profit Accumulator’s response

Profit Accumulator argued that the issues raised were not the case. The company said that the customer testimonial on the Facebook post was immaterial and not a key part of the advert as it was one of several Facebook comments read during the ad.

The company also argued that when taken in the context of previous statements made in the ad such as: “I cannot promise you that you will make money,” the statement should not appear as being irresponsible.

On top of this, Profit Accumulator said the advert: “presented casino bonus hunting as a way of earning extra money, and did not implore consumers to leave their jobs to take up bonus hunting as a source of income.”

In response to the complaints against the messaging on BonusAccumulaotr.com, the company said there was “no chance” of customers losing money if they used the site’s “risk free” service. 

Profit Accumulator also said that it was a “mathematical fact” that players who placed enough bets with the service would make money

The ASA’s ruling

The ASA upheld the complaints against the ads and agreed that both ads were socially irresponsible and that the messages on BonusAccumulator.com were also misleading.

The advertising body said it acknowledged that the Bonus Accumulator service itself was not gambling but it considered the purpose of the service was to facilitate gambling and “therefore assessed the ad with that in mind.”

The ASA also said that given the Facebook post appeared during the coronavirus pandemic, the customer’s testimonial could be interpreted as suggesting the Profit Accumulator gambling system could be used as an alternative to employment.

The ASA ruled that the ads breached section 1.3 of the UK Code of Non-broadcast Advertising and Direct & Promotional Marketing (CAP Code), which says that “marketing communications must be prepared with a sense of responsibility to consumers and to society.”

Regarding the messages on the Bonus Accumulator site, the ASA said that “theoretically, the system eliminated the chance of losing money” however, in practice “the process was potentially long-winded and open to human error.”

The ASA added that it had not seen evidence of whether customers had made money or not using the services.

The ASA said: “We also considered that although the bonuses in and of themselves were free, there was nothing to stop consumers continuing to gamble their own money once they had gambled with the initial bonus. Those who gambled their own money were then open to any risk inherent in online casino gambling.”

As a result of this, the ads were also deemed to have breached CAP Code Section 3.1, which states that “marketing communications must not materially mislead or be likely to do so”. The ads also breached Section 3.7, which states that marketers must hold documentary evidence to prove claims that consumers are likely to regard as objective and that are capable of objective substantiation.

The ASA ruled that the ads must not appear again in their current form.

Another strike for Profit Accumulator

This marks the second time Profit Accumulator has gotten into trouble with the ASA.

In March, the ASA banned two Instagram ads from Profit Accumulator that suggested matched betting could be a solution to financial difficulties. 

One of these posts contained the hashtags #makemoney, #makingmoney, #income, #makemoneyfromhome #students and #sahm, which is an abbreviation for stay-at-home mothers.

The ASA warned the company to avoid suggesting matched betting could be a solution to financial problems in the future.

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