FAQ
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Questions:
1) If I am producing a bingo, gaming or betting ad, what should I look out for?
2) Does Clearcast clear ads for broadcast overseas?
3) Does Clearcast clear ads for broadcast in the Republic of Ireland?
4) What is Clearcast?
Answers:
1) If I am producing a bingo, gaming or betting ad, what should I look out for?
First, you would need to look at the BCAP Code, section 17 on Gambling. Clearcast assigns a ‘GG’ code to gambling advertisements which tells the broadcaster ‘This is an advertisement for Betting, Gaming or Bingo. Not to be transmitted in, or adjacent to, religious programmes, children’s programmes or programmes commissioned for, principally directed at or likely to appeal particularly to audiences below the age of 18’.
A presentation code will also be added to finished ads, as follows:
54 – GAMING – a voluntary agreement exists not to schedule gaming ads before 21.00. Legal advice should be sought on gaming ads proposed to be broadcast in Northern Ireland.
55 – BETTING – a voluntary agreement exists not to schedule gambling ads before 21.00. This agreement does not apply to sports betting around televised sporting events.
56 – WEBSITE – This is a Bingo or Betting ad containing a reference to a website with links to gaming on its home page.
We’d always ask to see terms and conditions of your website/product and offer. We’d ask that, if you have to ‘play out’ bonuses before withdrawing them you describe them as bonusplay or freeplay.
Gambling is a vast and tricky area of advertising and we have advice that is specific to gambling limits, bonuses by prize draw, free bets that are awarded in increments, music, sliding scale jackpots, etc etc. This advice is rather too long and complicated to state in this short note, and varies according to the terms and conditions of your product, so we’d ask that you supply a pre-production script for your gambling product/site together with the terms and conditions of it, then your Clearcast contact will advise you on any necessary changes and clarifications to your script. As with other sectors of advertising, we use ASA precedent on upheld/not upheld complaints to guide us when advising you. You can find past ASA adjudications here (link to ASA adjudications?)
Lotteries
For a lottery ad, you would need to refer to Section 18 of the BCAP Code. Scratchcards are also subject to the gambling rules but if they are non National Lottery scratchcards, they receive a GG timing restriction. National Lottery ads receive an ex kids (PK) restriction ‘ please note that we will be advising the programme companies that this advertisement should not be transmitted in the breaks immediately before during or immediately after children’s programmes’ (this is because 32.4.1 of the BCAP Scheduling Code notes that lotteries ‘may not be advertised in or adjacent to programmes commissioned for, principally directed at or likely to appeal particularly to audiences below the age of 16’).
2) Does Clearcast clear ads for broadcast overseas?
Clearcast is owned and funded by the major UK broadcasters and as such we can only clear ads that will be aired by those broadcasters. For a list of channels that we clear for click here.We do clear ads that are aired overseas but only when they are broadcast from the UK, for example, Sky and E4 which broadcast from the UK into the Republic of Ireland.
If you intend an advert to be broadcast in another European country then check here for the appropriate European body.
3) Does Clearcast clear ads for broadcast in the Republic of Ireland?
Clearcast clears ads for broadcast on channels that broadcast from the UK into the Republic of Ireland e.g. BSkyB and Channel Four. For further information about clearance for ads broadcast from the Republic of Ireland contact RTE http://www.rte.ie/ or copyclearance@rte.ie.
4) What is Clearcast?
Clearcast is the specialist company, owned and funded by seven leading commercial broadcasters, ITV, GMTV, Channel Four, Five, Sky, IDS (Virgin Media) and Turner, all of whom are represented on Clearcast's board. On behalf of broadcasters, and in accordance with their Ofcom licences, Clearcast advises on and clears commercials, against the TV Advertising Standards Code (the Code), before they are broadcast. Clearcast also manages the attribution service which standardises and validates attribution data for all BARB reported commercial copy transmitted on TV in the UK and reports attribution for transmission by UK broadcasters in the Republic of Ireland.