The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has ruled in favour of Buzz Bingo parent company Buzz Group, following complaints that an ad for the bingo operator could appeal to children.
The ad in question was posted by Buzz Bingo Grimsby’s Facebook account on 12 April 2025.
It depicted a cartoon action figure in a box labelled “[NAME] ACTION FIGURE”, alongside accessories including a bingo dabber, bingo cards and a numbered ball.
The ad was designed to capitalise on an internet trend which was popular on social media at the time, whereby users would provide prompts to generative AI tools like ChatGPT to create a personalised action figure.
In addition to containing a link to GambleAware, a caption for the post read: “For a limited time only Buzz Bingo Action Figures [crying laughing face emoji] Only available at Buzz Bingo Grimsby! [eyes emoji] T&Cs Apply […] Player Together [sic], Safely […] Over 18s Only”.
The two complainants alleged the ad included imagery which was “likely to be of strong appeal to those under 18 years of age”, and was therefore in breach of the ASA’s CAP Code of Conduct.
In response to the complaint, Buzz Group attested that the ad wasn’t designed to appeal to children.
The operator claimed the individual the action figure was modelled on was the general manager for Buzz Bingo’s Grimsby branch, who is considered an “employee with no celebrity or influencer status [and] who was not widely recognisable” to the public.
Buzz Group said the AI-generated action figure had a neutral presentation with plain clothing and no smile.
The action figure’s accompanying accessories were all bingo-themed and lacked design elements, such as bright colours, cartoonish graphics and licensed characters, which would be likely to appeal to children.
Buzz Group also insisted the trend the ad was based on didn’t “inherently target” children, and that the Facebook page the ad was posted on used the social media platform’s controls to restrict access only to users who had self-verified as being over 18.
The ASA decided against upholding the complaint, believing that the ad was “realistic rather than cartoon-like” and therefore less likely to appeal to children.
An ASA statement read: “The figure depicted was an adult who did not have exaggerated features, was wearing a simple shirt, and was not a recognisable or well-known character.
“The colours were muted rather than bright and were not reminiscent of dolls or action figures that were typically marketed towards children.
“We considered that the ‘action figure’ depicted was unlikely to be viewed by children as an appealing toy to play with.
“The items which accompanied the figure in the box had a similar realistic and muted aesthetic and were associated with the game of bingo, which we considered was not an activity that was likely to appeal to most under-18s.
“We therefore concluded that the ad was not likely to be of strong appeal to those under 18 years of age.”
Earlier this month, the ASA upheld a complaint against football score prediction platform LEBOM over its use of an internet personality in its marketing materials.
So far this year, the ASA has upheld advertising complaints against operators including Ladbrokes, LiveScore Bet and PokerStars.
The post ASA clears Buzz Bingo of any wrongdoing over Facebook ad first appeared on EGR Intel.
Advertising watchdog finds no fault with advert featuring an AI-generated action figure, despite complaints it might appeal to under 18s
The post ASA clears Buzz Bingo of any wrongdoing over Facebook ad first appeared on EGR Intel.