In the UK, the National Lottery has been forced to withdraw a TV advertisement which “denigrated the Bingo industry”, according to the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA). The Bingo Association complained about the advert, which featured an old lady on a scooter riding past a padlocked Bingo hall before her situation drastically changes.

As she suddenly wins the jackpot on the National Lottery Bingo scratchcard, she gets immediately transported to a sunny beach, wearing expensive jewellery. The Bingo Association said that the advertisment “unfairly denigrated bingo halls and implied that bingo clubs were closed and that the industry was dying.”

National Lottery organisers argued the Bingo hall depicted was simply closed, rather than shut down and that the ad showed only how a scratchcard winner’s life could change.

The ASA ruled that the advert implied Bingo halls were generally closing down and that the industry was struggling. In a statement, the ASA “concluded that the ad was misleading and denigrated the Bingo industry."