Technical amendments to the UK Advertising Practices Commission (CAP) code and the UK Advertising Practices Code (BCAP) regulations on advertising in the lottery and the inclusion of persons who appear to be under the age of 25 have been announced. They do not affect advertising policies and practices and are intended to help code users understand the rules by explaining the underlying policy intentions more clearly.
Lottery advertising has always been controlled by strict regulations to protect minors (0-15 years old) and teenagers (16 and 17 years old). One of these prohibits people under the age of 25 from playing an important role in advertising. These guidelines make sure that all characters or personalities are clearly adults and are therefore less likely to appeal to younger viewers.
The ASA sometimes considers situations in which actors over the age of 25 look very young for their age and may be against the rules. The amendment to section 18 of the BCAP code contains 18.6 that lottery ads cannot show anyone under the age of 25 or who appears to be participating in gambling.
Furthermore, 18.7 states that lottery ads cannot show a person under the age of 25 or looking like that in a prominent position when referring to scratch cards or online instant lottery products. In addition, CAP Code Section 17 has been updated to include a requirement that individuals under the age of 25 should not be marked as gambling in lottery marketing materials.
Rules and guidelines for CAP and BCAP are regularly reviewed for code users to understand as significant policy changes occur. Along with technical improvements, CAP and BCAP have updated and improved their guidance with several changes.