The Wink Bingo adverts are popular for their depictions of comedy scenes showing players winning an online bingo game at inappropriate moments. Their campaign however has landed them in hot water as one Wink Bingo advert is banned by the ASA.
The Wink Bingo advert depicts a nurse standing next to a trolley of medical equipment in a delivery suite of a hospitals maternity unit, her laptop screen flashes up ‘Wink Bingo winner’ and you see her celebrate her online bingo jackpot win with Wink Bingo apparently ignoring the woman giving birth behind her. The phrase ‘Find the appropriate moment’ is flashed up on the screen.
The complaint centres round the implication that the nurse is neglecting her duties by playing bingo whilst she is working. The complaint has been upheld and the Wink Bingo advert banned by the ASA.
This complaint comes on the back of several ASA rulings on gaming advertisements and it leaves you wondering just who is doing the complaining. In my eye the advert is clearly a humorous, tongue in cheek depiction of a situation, no different to the same advert featuring a hair dresser. I’m inclined to think the complaints are either thrown up by rival bingo companies or individuals who have had a sense of humour by-pass. Almost all the bingo adverts on our televisions make me giggle and I will continue to enjoy them in the spirit they are intended.
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