Ladbrokes has been reprimanded by the UK’s advertising watchdog, which ruled that an advert by the Entain gaming brand for its free-to-play game currency was likely to appeal to under-18s.
The ad promoted Ladbrokes’ LadBucks Arcade and its currency, which customers can collect by playing free-to-play games and convert into rewards such as free spins and free bets.
The LadBucks were depicted in the on-demand and television adverts in December 2024 as coins that displayed the initials Lb.
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said the term LadBucks, and specifically the suffix “bucks,” had “strong similarities” to the in-game currencies in Fortnite and Roblox – V-bucks and Robux, respectively.
The ASA noted that Ladbrokes had taken the prefix “lad” from its brand name – and said it did not think the company name Ladbrokes would appeal to under-18s. However, it said that the word lad “would have been recognised” and would have been of appeal to under-18s in the context of the ad alongside the word buck.
The ASA paired this with its criticism of the depiction of the Ladbrokes tokens in the adverts.
It said the “round” LadBucks tokens, that were “shiny around the edges with an initial in the centre,” shared similarities with the design of a V-buck.
“Whilst a Robux was, at the time the ads were seen, a different shape, we understood it was still sometimes depicted in its previous form, which again resembled a poker chip with the initial R and a dollar sign in the middle,” the watchdog said.
“Although we acknowledged that Ladbrokes offered poker and casino games, we considered it was not the use of poker chip imagery in isolation, but the use of the token’s imagery when used in conjunction with the term LadBucks, that was likely to have been recognisable and perceived by many under-18s as similar to those in-game currencies of online games that were of strong appeal to under-18s.”
The ASA also ruled that the way the LadBucks tokens could be used on Ladbrokes’ online platform “was likely to be reminiscent of the way in-game currencies Robux and V-bucks were used.”
“Therefore, we considered that was likely to further enhance its appeal to children through its resemblance to tokens used in gaming, with which they would likely be familiar.”
The ASA has ordered the advert not to appear in the same form, as – when shown on television and on-demand – under-18s “could not be entirely excluded from the audience.”
Ladbrokes said both ads had targeting restrictions to reduce the likelihood of children viewing them.
The Entain brand added that V-bucks and Robux were in-game currencies that had to be purchased before being used to buy in-game items. Ladbrokes also said certain elements of Robux required parental consent and, for subscription services, the purchaser must be over 18.
Ladbrokes insisted it had reviewed the rewards programme and believed there was no risk of the term being associated with Fortnite or Roblox.
