The ASA has banned a Rank Group advert which have been described as “irresponsible” by the ASA (Advertising Standards Authority).

Rank Digital Gaming (Alderney) Ltd (Rank) said that the ad had been prepared by an affiliate organisation, WakeApp, which purchased in-app media on their behalf. Rank said that they had not been involved in the production or publication of the ad, and had not been aware of it until it had been brought to their attention by the complaint. Rank said that they would not have approved content such as that seen in the ad, if they had been aware of it.

Rank told the ASA that they had raised the matter with WakeApp, and made it clear that the nature of the content was unacceptable, and in contravention of their own internal policies regarding advertising.

They said that their terms and conditions for affiliates only permitted the use of copy provided by Rank, or copy created by an affiliate which Rank then directly approved, and that WakeApp had not adhered to that process when creating the ad.