Bullet Business

A magazine campaign for gambling firm Swank Poker, featuring a woman cupping her breasts under the tagline “Will you hold this pair for me?”, has been banned by The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).

The magazine campaign, which ran in a poker and gambling title called Flush, promised “hot action” to online gamblers where “your favourite girl will play as you tell her to”. A second promotion, an advertorial, positioned Swank Poker as “the very best in poker action coupled with the finest erotic entertainment that the civilised world has to offer”.

A separate advertorial told readers that the female online poker players featured in the service are “not your alter egos” but “bring enough action to the Swank tables and the next thing you know, she could be taking care of your wildest fantasies”. Rewards included “serious erotic action” and “the opportunity to star in a movie with them”.

The Remote Gambling Association challenged whether ads linked gambling to seduction and sexual success; and were socially responsible, with particular regard to the need to protect children, young persons and other vulnerable persons from being harmed or exploited by advertising that features or promotes gambling.

The ASA while admitting that the premise of Swank was to offer erotic entertainment combined with poker play, and the services offered by Swank were legally available, it considered that both ads had breached the Code in relation to the advertising of gambling services.

The Authority also noted the RGA’s concern with regard to “vulnerable persons”. It stated that both the ads were not likely either to, for example, encourage those who gambled excessively to play poker or influence the gambling behaviour of anyone with mental impairment. It did not find them in breach.