BetMGM and Chris Rock’s recent partnership has been hit with a host of criticism, as the public have complained to the Advertising Standards Authority about adverts with the comedian/actor.
BetMGM & Chris Rock Partnership
The complaints come on the basis that Chris Rock’s involvement may attract people below the age of 18 – with three organizations complaining.
In October 2023, BetMGM released their advert involving Rock on a list of sites and channels. Putting the comedian on golden speedboat that traveled from Las Vegas to London – the advert labeled it as a golden era for online sports betting/casino gambling.
LeoVegas, BetMGM’s UK operating partner, have taken due diligence after receiving these complaints and their breakdwon revealed that Rock’s involvement is unlikely to attract U18’s.
There are several reason for this according to BetMGM, as Rock is 58 years old and is from the USA – meaning there is less of a link to the United Kingdom.
Also, his time as a stand up comedian is renowned for adult, explicit jokes and is more recognizable from that in comparison to work in the film industry.
Rock is known for his role in the animated film, Madagascar, however this does not show his face and BetMGM claimed that when appearing as himself, the 58 hear old meets the criteria.
Another key factor for BetMGM’s case was the fact that those who watched Madagascar during their release in 2005-2008, would most likely be over 18 now and Rock was a smaller feature in their final release during 2014.
Also, BetMGM stated that those audiences who were impacted by the franchise’s movie releases predominately between 2005-2008 would now be over 18, while he had a significantly reduced role in the final film aired in 2014.
The ASA believed that the reasons put forward by BetMGM were strong enough to dismiss the initial complaints and released a statement to finalize the mater.
The statement said: “Because all of the characters he portrayed in the films that we considered would strongly appeal to children were limited to voice-over roles, and there were no visual or physical similarities between the characters he portrayed and his appearance in the ad, we considered that, within the context of his overall career profile, he would likely not be of strong appeal to under-18s in the UK.”
