Monopoly ad too enticing for children, ASA rules

Kids these days like their Fortnight, they like their Instagram, and according to a recent Google survey, they like Oreos, I guess. The real danger though is that UK gambling firms might have keyed in on a beloved brand amongst the Gen-Z generation: The 84 year old Monopoly board game.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) recently ruled that an ad appearing on the Mirror Online website, prominently featuring Rich Uncle Pennybags, was too enticing for impressionable young minds, reports The Guardian. They’ve ordered the ad, which advertised for Entertaining Play, a subsidiary of Gamesys, banned as a result.

I’m as appalled as you are, dear reader, that a gambling firm would use the innocent image of Mr. Pennybags to advertise gambling to children. The wholesome board game, played with dice and figurative money, is nothing like gambling, and children shouldn’t link the two.

Snark aside, Reverend Dr. Alan Smith, bishop of St. Albans, agreed with the ban. He said: