Why do you advertise misleading promotions?

[blankley]

For instance on your accredited casinos page under Palace Group you state -

Mummy's Gold - £500 free plus 1 hour free.

AS you know very well, there is no £500 free nor any intention for there ever to be so. It is a nominal figure credited to a free play account from which a smaller bonus can be 'won'.

If there was any advertising code applicable as in newspapers or television then this would be described at intentionally misleading or maybe even deceptive and you would have to remove it.

Why not take the first step and remove these statements and banners which promote similar offers from your site and lead the way?

[WagerWitch]

Just in for a moment here and there...

But this isn't really misleading...

You're what I would call 50/50 right and 50/50 wrong.

Yes... It is a bonus account - and YES - you have to play through a bonus window.

BUT - it is still 500 or whatever amount that YOU GET TO go through.

YES... There are strings attached.

But - you CAN win - some money - and there have been a LOT of people who have won on those free plays.

I mean seriously - the casinos are basically giving you something for free... Whether or not YOU choose to deposit is up to you.

I really am starting the think that the casinos - while some stink and are robbers - have a bunch of people who think that they should be given freebies --- and that this is to be expected at all points.

But imagine for a moment, if you will, that there were NO cheaters - no thieves and no evil people scam artists... Then - I think that there would be no problems with promotions.

But if casinos constantly give away free money with no strings - there would be small groups of thieves who would sign up and take advantage of these things so fast - it wouldn't be funny. Yanno?

Anyhow - Like I said - you're 50/50. Yeah - it's got strings attached - but it's still free.

LOL!

[bryand]

What I don't like are emails that are headed "$100 free" but really its a 20% match bunus up to $100. Some acrredited RTG sites do this regularly.

[vinylweatherman]

Well, actually the UK has tightened up the laws relating to this kind of thing. Now, OMISSION of a pertinent fact is considered misleading, as well as something misleading appearing in the advertisement. There is also the principle of "equal prominence", which means a NEGATIVE term, attached string, or whatever has to be given EQUAL prominence to the POSITIVE aspect.

These adverts fail because the POSITIVE aspect of "£500 free" is in large, often colourful, text, but the NEGATIVE factor, that you can NEVER EVER receive the full £500 WHATEVER the outcome, is buried in small print not even present on the advertisement itself, but in the detailed terms and conditions.

This upgrading of the law was specifically intended to prevent the burying of negative factors in "small print", whilst emblazoning the POSITIVE factors in bold print on the advertisement.

Quite a few companies have been caught out by these new rules, and have been forced to change their advertising copy, and indeed rewrite some of their terms and conditions.

The law came into force around May this year, and is being enforced by Trading Standards and the Advertising Standards Authority as members of the public bring possible infringements to their attention.

Unfortunately, an advert would have to appear in, or be deemed to have been made, to citizens of the UK.

IF such an offer were to arrive by snail mail, it COULD be looked into, and provided the casino was licenced within the EU, they could be forced to change their advertising material that was destined for the UK market.

An INTERNET advert is hard to pin down. How do you determine in which jurisdiction the advertisement was displayed, and who the intended recipients were.

Casinomeister himself is based in Germany, so the advert can be deemed to have been produced there by being put on the website. However, the advertising copy itself has been supplied by the casino.
The intended market is anybody who looks at the site, and for the most part, this cannot be controlled with accuracy.

Just look at all the attempts the US Government have made to get rid of online casinos over the years. This last one was the best attempt yet, but Americans can STILL play, and there ARE ways around the restrictions. All this, despite the concerted efforts to enforce this ban on gambling and supporting transactions.

If it can, a company WILL attempt to embellish the truth about an offer, and will keep on doing so until somebody with enough clout stops them.

Experienced players are well aware of the misleading aspect of these offers, and I have noticed that ever higher amounts of phony "free" money are being used in the advertisements to suck the last dregs from this kind of promotion before everybody is wise to the fact that it is really only a fancy way of granting the usual deposit bonus. Then, casinos will think up something new, quite possibly equally as economical with the truth.

[WagerWitch]

Ayuh - I'll say again - you're about 50/50 right.

Stinks for the player who wants the free free free... But if you look at it from the casino's perspective they are literally giving away money - whether the player is purchasing to get it or not... They are giving it away.

So - 50/50.

I try really hard to look at all sides of the story before I get upset about something.

And while I wish there were tons of freebies like in the old days where they would just pump money in your accounts to keep you playing... Nowadays there are too many people taking advantage of these kinds of things...

Sigh... Well we players can just keep trying.

[big_mac]

The maximum amount that can be won and transferred into your real account for this promotion is £100.

That's a maximum of £100 in actual money, the £500 is just play money - you can't ever withdraw it or possibly convert it into something that you can ever withdraw. I can get free play money wherever I want, I can even make my own!

I wouldn't say that is 50/50, I would say that it is completely wrong.

[WagerWitch]

OK - Like I said - I'm 50/50 with you.

YOU DO get 500 to PLAY with.

So that is NOT a lie.

But you can ONLY keep 100.00

It's all a matter of READING the FINE PRINT...

So - in any deal or coupon you get - YOU need to read the fine print.

So is it false advertising?

No - and Yes.

You get what they say - and if you read the fine print - WHICH it tells you to do - you know how much you really get.

It is truly a matter of the FINE PRINT.

[vinylweatherman]

That's a maximum of £100 in actual money, the £500 is just play money - you can't ever withdraw it or possibly convert it into something that you can ever withdraw. I can get free play money wherever I want, I can even make my own!

I wouldn't say that is 50/50, I would say that it is completely wrong.

Given the tighter laws, and the fact that you are in the UK, you could make a complaint to the ASA to see whether they deem this misleading within the meaning of the new law. Without such a ruling, there is no official opinion, only our speculation.

Use of the word "free" might be their downfall, the term "free" itself has restrictions in how it can be used in advertisements.

You saw the advert, and objected to it's content as being misleading, so you can legitimately make a complaint as the offended party.

If they DO rule that it is misleading, it WILL put considerable pressure on casinos to change, because they DO advertise extensively within the UK, and would not want to get caught out by generating FURTHER complaints.

There are ALSO standards of advertising enshrined in the UK Gambling Act, and these SPECIFICALLY cover "inducement to gamble", and what you can and cannot do. For example, you CANNOT imply that gambling increases "sex appeal" for example, or that success at gambling is connected with achievement in life, such as success at work, or the ability to be financially secure.

[suzecat]

For instance on your accredited casinos page under Palace Group you state -

Mummy's Gold - £500 free plus 1 hour free.

AS you know very well, there is no £500 free nor any intention for there ever to be so. It is a nominal figure credited to a free play account from which a smaller bonus can be 'won'.

If there was any advertising code applicable as in newspapers or television then this would be described at intentionally misleading or maybe even deceptive and you would have to remove it.

Why not take the first step and remove these statements and banners which promote similar offers from your site and lead the way?

What I don't like are emails that are headed "$100 free" but really its a 20% match bunus up to $100. Some acrredited RTG sites do this regularly.

That's a maximum of £100 in actual money, the £500 is just play money - you can't ever withdraw it or possibly convert it into something that you can ever withdraw. I can get free play money wherever I want, I can even make my own!

I wouldn't say that is 50/50, I would say that it is completely wrong.

Well, they did get you to look at the promotion ................. maybe to be fair, just look at half of it?

[KasinoKing]

It may surprise some to hear that I totally agree with Blankley on this.
You are never getting 500 (or whatever) free - all you ever get is free-play chips, not actual cash.
I also hate when casinos who run these promos say 'Keep your winnings!' because this sounds like you keep ALL your winnings - it's not until you read the small print that you see "all" is actually restricted to a relatively small amount.
These free-play offers CAN be very good value, but I think casinos should state more prominently exactly what is the maximum you can transfer into real playable bonus chips.
I advertise these free-play offers on my websites, but I spell out exactly what the maximum 'win' is, and how much you have to deposit & wager afterwards to convert this into cash-outable real money.
I am up-front about it, why can't the casinos be?

KK