The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has upheld 125 complaints against Midnite’s VOD ads for TV and radio which appeared in April and May 2026.

The first TV ad depicted a man encountering various inconveniences. He was first shown attempting to use a supermarket scanner, with a robotic voice-over stating, “Scanner didn’t work”. He was then shown in a hotel room where the lighting did not operate as intended, with the voice-over stating, “Hotel didn’t work”, then using a vending machine where a snack became stuck, with the voice-over stating, “Snack didn’t work”. Finally, he was shown using his phone with the text “Grandad’s bookie” on it, with a continuing loading icon on it, with the voice-over stating, “Grandad’s bookie didn’t work”.

Throughout those scenes, veins in the man’s head were shown visibly pulsating. Text then appeared on screen and was sung, stating, “We can’t fix the rest, but our betting app is actually pretty good”. The ad ended with text on screen that said “Midnite, built different”, which was also sung. The top left corner of the screen included the text “18+” and the top right corner included the text “Gamble Aware”. 

The second TV ad depicted a woman also encountering various inconveniences. She was first shown attempting to use a key card to enter a building, with a voice-over stating, “Key card didn’t work”. She was then shown trying to use a tap in an office building, with the voice-over stating, “Fancy tap didn’t work”, then trying to use a fob for gym lockers, with the voice-over stating, “Gym fob didn’t work”. Finally, she was shown using a casino app, which also did not work, with the voice-over stating, “Casino app didn’t work”. During those scenes, veins in the woman’s head were also shown visibly pulsating.

The radio ad included a voice-over referring to various technological issues, stating, “Smart TV didn’t work”, “QR Code login didn’t work”, “Re-enter login didn’t work” and “Voice activated remote didn’t work”. A song then stated, “We can’t fix the rest but our casino app is actually pretty good”. The ad ended with the claim “Wager £20, get 100 free spins with Midnite on eligible games”, followed by the jingle “Midnite, built different”. It also included the voice-over, “Search Midnite casino or download the Midnite app today.

The ASA received 125 complaints. The complainants objected that ads portrayed and encouraged gambling behaviour that could lead to financial, social or emotional harm and suggested that gambling was an escape from personal problems.

Dribble Media Ltd t/a Midnite said that ads (a), (b), (c) and (d) were based on the familiar experience of everyday technology not working as expected and were intended to contrast those minor frustrations with Midnite’s app, which they said was reliable and functioned well. They said the creative concept focused on app quality, user experience and product functionality, rather than presenting gambling as a response to frustration or as an escape from problems. They considered the frustrations shown were trivial technological inconveniences rather than more serious personal, financial or emotional problems. They said the scenarios were intended to represent separate everyday occasions, demonstrated by the characters wearing different clothes in each of the respective scenes, rather than a cumulative sequence of events occurring in one day. 
 
They said the pulsing vein shown on the characters’ foreheads was intended as a well-established comedic device representing mild frustration rather than serious distress. They also said the line, “We can’t fix the rest”, made clear that Midnite was not presented as a solution to the frustrations depicted. They said the characters shown were calm before attempting to use the gambling apps, meaning there was no link between the earlier frustrations and the decision to gamble. They further said that neither character was shown using the Midnite app, and that the alternative malfunctioning gambling apps shown were included as further examples of faulty technology rather than as depictions of gambling being used as a coping mechanism. 

The ASA noted that, after that, the ads stated, “We can’t fix the rest but our betting app is actually pretty good” or “We can’t fix the rest but our casino app is actually pretty good”.

The ASA acknowledged Midnite’s view that they believed the ads focused on the user experience, quality and functionality of their app.

However, whether or not the reliability of gambling apps was a known issue, we considered that consumers were likely to understand those claims in context not solely as statements about product quality, but also as implying that turning to the app offered some kind of relief from the frustrations that were the focus of the ads.

Further, although the ads stated that Midnite could not “fix” those situations, we considered the juxtaposition between the repeated frustrations and the final reference to the app was likely to convey that using the app was a way to move on from, or forget about, those frustrations in some way. We therefore considered the ads suggested that gambling could alleviate stressful situations or frustration and could therefore function as a coping mechanism. The ASA said the ads must not appear again in the form complained of.