The Advertising Standards Agency (ASA), Britain’s Advertising Watchdog has censured North London-based professional football team Arsenal, for a “misleading and irresponsible” crypto advert.
Arsenal has been criticized by the ASA for failing to include any risk warnings that would inform customers of the dangers involved with such crypto assets.
The two advertisements posted on the club’s website and Facebook were “misleading” and irresponsible, according to the judgment against Arsenal made by Britain’s advertising watchdog on Wednesday.
The Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) claimed the advertisements took advantage of fans’ ignorance, failed to make it clear that the tokens had to be purchased with a cryptocurrency, and neglected to mention the risks associated with trading cryptocurrencies.
Arsenal stated that the polls were “not a gimmick or a method to promote fan tokens as an investment possibility, the polls were truly the purpose and essence of the fan tokens” in a statement to the ASA.
The club stated that Since Socios is a well-known cryptocurrency platform in the soccer community, viewers of the advertisements would be aware that fan tokens must be purchased using cryptocurrency.
The group claimed the club “did not contain any risk disclosures informing consumers that paid-for Fan Tokens were cryptocurrency assets which were unregulated in the UK and crypto assets may go down as well as up.”
It continued that the advertisements were deceptive because they failed to disclose that the tokens were digital assets that had to be bought with another cryptocurrency and were not subject to British regulation.
According to the ASA, “(The advertising) was irresponsible because they exploited consumers’ inexperience or naivety and trivialized using and investing in crypto assets.”
“The ads must not appear again in the form complained about.”
Premier League clubs and fan tokens
Six Premier League clubs, including champions Manchester City, as well as Barcelona, Juventus, Paris St. Germain, and a number of other elite European teams, have agreements with digital fan token company Socios.
Supporters of soccer and other sports teams can vote with fan tokens on petty issues like music played at games when a goal is scored or social media posts.
The prices of the tokens, which may be exchanged on exchanges like other cryptocurrencies, can fluctuate wildly and are frequently unrelated to success in the field.
