The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has rejected a complaint for Bet MGM, seen on 4 October 2023, Featuring Chris Rock who said; “We’re Bet MGM and we know how to put on a show”.

Three complainants challenged whether the ad included an individual who was likely to be of strong appeal to those under 18 years of age, and therefore breached the code.

LeoVegas Gaming plc t/a Bet MGM said that they carried out an extensive assessment to identify an ambassador for the campaign who was not of appeal to anyone under the age of 18.

When assessing Chris Rock’s suitability for the campaign, they carried out a full risk assessment of his profile and relevance, to ensure that he would not be likely to have a strong appeal to children or young people.

The ASA understood that Chris Rock was an American stand-up comedian and actor who, across the course of his career, had appeared in a considerable number of films and TV series, as well as several documentaries and music videos.

The ASA considered his stand-up comedy was adult-orientated, as content was typically focused on the adult-orientated topics of family, race, romance and US politics. The ASA also understood that the majority of films, in which he appeared visually as himself, also dealt with adult themes. He had recently appeared in three films which were targeted at an older audience and included one film certified as suitable for those aged 18 or over.

However, the ASA further noted he had appeared in films rated as 12 and 15, including the franchise Grown Ups’. Nonetheless, because the last film in the series was released over ten years ago, and because we did not consider his role as a stay-at-home father was particularly aspirational or inspirational to under-18s, the ASA did not consider that he would be of strong appeal to under-18s as a result of appearing in them.