National Lottery ads cleared by Advertising Standards Authority

Three advertisements for the National Lottery have been cleared of wrongdoing by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), as a number of complainants challenged whether they suggested that participation could be a solution to financial concerns.

The trio, seen on television in September of this year, depicted the same advert in three different variants, those of 120 second, 60 second and 30 second lengths, with 24 individuals raising an issue.

In its longest version, it featured a fisherman rising for work whilst his family were still asleep, the subsequent struggle associated with such a scenario ensued, before he returned to find his house empty and family relocated following a lottery win and subsequent property purchase.

Each shorter offering featured slightly heavier edited advert, with the same scenario portrayed.

In its response, Camelot stressed that the ad was shot on location in a working fishing village, and was designed to present a hard working family going about their daily lives, before having the good fortune to win a National Lottery prize.

Sadness displayed was done to convey trauma at the couple enduring separation due to work, with a number of upgrades also made to the house to ensure that it did not imply the family were going through financial difficulty.

Jovial times seen on board the trawler was used to dispel a belief that the male wasn’t enjoying work and was playing the lottery as a possible alternative, while a solicitor visitor in the longer advert by his wife was to infer possible separation, before viewers saw the twist and subsequent win.

Regarding the ads conclusion, it was detailed that the home seen could be bought for a sum that could be considered “fairly modest,” with such a purchase “most common” for a large prize winner.

Fisherman’s overalls hanging in the entrance inferred work is a part of future plans, with the company displaying a belief “that they had done nothing more than represent the benefit of winning a prize, and had not suggested that participating in a lottery could be a solution to financial concerns”.

In its assessment the ASA stated that the ad “immediately established that the man’s work routinely took him away from his family,” with following scenes displaying everyday struggles in life spent apart and visuals in the “unremarkable” family home emphasising that time spent apart was the main source of strain.

Adding: “We considered that the ad depicted a couple trying to balance the demands of work and raising a family.

“Although it highlighted the time they had to spend apart which suggested that this placed a strain on their relationship, before the “reveal” that the couple was not in fact separating, but had in fact won a prize on the lottery that allowed them to upgrade the family home, it did not imply that they had financial concerns.

“We therefore considered that ad had not implied that participating in the lottery had been a solution to financial concerns for the family featured, or that doing so could be a solution to financial concerns for others.”

No further action was deemed to be necessary.