The ASA Keeps Its Promise

It seems like the January announcement to tighten the noose on all ‘suspicious’ crypto advertisements is in full effect, since the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), the largest independent advertising regulator in the United Kingdom, ruled against Floki Inu and ordered for the controversial advertisement to be instantly removed from all commercial platforms.

The ASA started investigating the ad by Floki Inu in November of 2021, right after the commercial started to appear on various London public transportation methods.

Moreover, it took the ASA around three months to come up with the verdict that ‘the ad was irresponsible, as well as that it “took advantage of consumers’ inexperience or credulity”.

In-depth, the ASA also states that the advertisement created a false sense of urgency, in particular regarding on missing out the opportunity to invest in the digital asset. And even more serious, is the fact that Floki Inu uses Dogecoin, its biggest coin-rival, to push this urgency of investing in crypto.

In fact, the ASA specifically referred to the disclaimer that is usually at the bottom of the advertisements, stating that it was far too small in comparison to the main text of the ad that goes “Missed Doge? Get Floki”.

Protecting The People

Furthermore, the ASA went on to directly reprimand the owners of Floki Inu, by stating that it is their responsibility “to ensure that they did not irresponsibly exploit consumers’ fear of missing out and trivialize investment in cryptocurrency”.

Additionally, the ASA also warned the minds behind Floki Inu not to ‘take advantage of the lack of experience of its audience to make crypto profits. Finally, the ASA concluded its statement by saying that the ad is banned from airing, permanently.

The reason why the ASA ruled against the Floki Inu advertisement can be traced back towards the end of 2021. In fact, in December of 2021, the same UK authority ruled against several big companies, also regarding controversial crypto advertisements.

More specifically, back then the ASA issued bans for seven major brands for creating misleading crypto ads, including Coinbase, Kraken, Papa John’s Pizza, Etoro, Coinburp, Exmo and Luno.