The Advertising Standards Authority, an independent body set up by the advertising industry to police the rules laid down in the advertising codes, told Ladbrokes eGaming that one of their e-mails mislead customers into believeing they were more likely to win on the Irish Lotto than on the National Lottery.
The email, which was sent to approximately 20,000 customers, stated: “Every week thousands of customers bet on our lotto products and it is easy to see why. By matching just 3 numbers you would win 460, a lot more than the 10 you would get on the National Lottery.”
“Last weekend one lucky customer won 44,371 by matching 5 numbers, the same weekend matching 5 numbers on the National Lottery would have only netted him 1,319. And with only 42 numbers to choose from your chances are even better…”
One of the recipients complained to the ASA, asserting that the advertisement was misleading and unfair because the odds of matching three numbers were 1 in 57 for the National Lottery and 1 in 574 for the Irish Lotto on Ladbrokes.
Ladbrokes said the complainant was correct that the odds of matching three numbers were 1 in 57 for the National Lottery and 1 in 574 for the Irish Lotto. But they believed the Irish Lotto was a better product, because customers were only 10 times less likely to match three numbers on the Irish Lotto than on the National Lottery, yet the Irish Lotto winnings were 46 times greater than the National Lottery winnings.
In the week when the e-mail was sent, one customer won 44,371 by matching five numbers on the Irish Lotto, and 715 customers won 1,319 by matching five numbers on the National Lottery.
However, the e-mail did not state how many customers won 460 on the Irish Lotto and how many won 10 and 1,319 on the National Lottery.
The ASA considered that, because it focused on the winnings a customer received from the Irish Lotto compared to the National Lottery and did not mention the odds of winning the Irish Lotto compared to the National Lottery, the e-mail misleadingly implied the chances of winning 460 or 44,371 on the Irish Lotto were greater than, or the same as, the chances of winning 10 or 1,319 on the National Lottery.
The Authority told Ladbrokes not to repeat that claim in future marketing communications and advised them to seek advice from the Committee of Advertising Practice when preparing similar advertisements.
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