Ireland’s advertising watchdog has ruled against two YouTube campaigns by TonyBet after concluding that the content breached national gambling promotion standards. The Advertising Standards Authority for Ireland (ASAI) determined that both advertisements portrayed gambling as a way to generate income and ease personal financial strain, which contravenes the country’s Advertising Code.
The authority assessed the material under the ASAI Code following complaints about the messaging and context used in the videos. After reviewing the submissions, it ordered the operator to remove the advertisements and prohibited their further use in their existing format.
Regulator Finds Ads Framed Gambling as Income Source
One of the videos featured a man seated on a toilet using his mobile phone. On-screen text read: “Only 3% of people can do this. Make money while sitting on the toilet.” A footnote included a responsibility message and terms and conditions connected to the offer being promoted.
The regulator concluded that this wording presented gambling as a way to earn money and diminished the perception of risk associated with betting activity. It found that the message suggested gambling could provide financial benefit, which may lead to harm.
A second advertisement showed a woman holding a baby. Text in the clip stated: “It’s hard to pay my rent and take care of my babies.” Later in the video, the woman gave a thumbs-up gesture, and additional wording indicated that she had earned $8,500 in the previous month. In the ruling, another version of the phrasing appeared as: “it’s hard to pay my rent and take care of my babies” followed later by “But I made $8,500 last month.” As with the first advertisement, the video displayed a responsibility notice and linked terms and conditions in a footnote.
The authority found that this content implied gambling could resolve financial hardship. One complainant argued that the advertisement had “targeted vulnerable individuals and perpetuated dangerous stereotypes, potentially encouraging harmful gambling behaviours”. After reviewing the case, the regulator upheld the complaints and instructed that the advertisement must not appear again in its current form.
Operator Cites Human Error and Affiliate Oversight
TonyBet acknowledged the regulator’s findings and confirmed that it removed the ads. In a public response, the company said,“We have urgently discontinued non-compliant advertisements with immediate effect. We are fully committed to compliance with respective rules and regulations in the territory of Ireland.”
The operator explained that it maintains internal advertising guidance aligned with the ASAI Code. It publishes this guidance on its internal Confluence platform and requires marketing campaigns to undergo review and approval through a Jira-based ticketing system, which functions as a secondary compliance safeguard before release.
According to the company, the two disputed advertisements were managed by a mobile affiliation partner. TonyBet said that although the partner had received compliance guidelines and staff training, a newly hired employee failed to verify the templates against regulatory standards before uploading them. The company stated that it had not been notified that the material would be distributed via YouTube.
The ruling recorded the explanation as follows: “They said that the partner did not warn them that the advertising material would be launched for YouTube and due to high workload, the Tonybet Marketing team missed the material in question and campaign managers launched the material automatically, assuming it has passed the multiple checks.”
The regulator further noted: “They underlined that they were fully committed to the compliance with respective rules and regulations in the territory of Ireland and the current advertisement launch was not a deliberate action of the company but a mistake of a third-party employee.”
TonyBet attributed the lapse to “human error” and reported that workload pressures contributed to the oversight. After the incident, the operator introduced additional compliance training for relevant stakeholders and expanded its approval process from two review stages to five. The company also indicated that it would reassess its ongoing relationship with the affiliate partner involved.
Broader Regulatory Context
The Irish decision follows earlier scrutiny faced by the operator in the Netherlands. Dutch authorities previously warned the company over inadequate Dutch-language customer support, which local licensing rules require to be available around the clock. Months later, the regulator reprimanded the operator for offering bets on the Ballon d’Or and on the Ballon d’Or at the FIFA Club World Cup. Because these outcomes depend on jury voting rather than direct athletic performance, Dutch rules prohibit such markets due to their susceptibility to influence.
The recent Irish rulings underscore the regulator’s position that gambling advertising must not present betting as a solution to financial problems or as a dependable income stream.
Source:
Ireland’s ASA upholds two complaints against TonyBet YouTube adverts, egr.global, February 18 2026
