UK Ads Regulator Criticized Arsenal’s FC Fan Token Advertisement

The UK ads regulator criticized Arsenal’s FC Fan token ad saying that it is irresponsible for trivializing investments in crypto assets so let’s find out more in today’s crypto news.

Arsenal FC is one of the top UK-ranking soccer clubs but recently it got a reprimand from the UK ads regulator for irresponsible and misleading promotion of the fan token that was introduced on July 12 in partnership with Socios. The Advertising Standards Authority criticized two ads located on Facebook and on a website.

The Facebook post said that supporters that owned the AFC token can vote on which song the club will play if they win. The website page claimed to explain everything you need to know about the fan token. According to the ASA, both were irresponsible for trivializing the investments in crypto and failing to illustrate the investment risks. The Facebook post was misleading because it didn’t make clear that the fan tokens were crypto assets that can be purchased with crypto. Arsenal said that its tokens are different from cryptocurrencies as a means of payment as they were designed for entertainment and to encourage fan participation. The tokens could not be traded on the Socios app at the time the ads appeared. The club denied that the ads were for crypto investments.

The increased promotions for crypto and assets drew the attention of the ASA but earlier this month the regulator censured ads by the industry participants like eToro and Coinbase as well as a promotion by the pizza chain Papa Johns. Socios is the company behind the fan tokens for soccer teams like Juventus, Atletico Madrid, Manchester City, and Barcelona and It was founded in 2019 with over 40 tan tokens on the website with more to come.

Also as recently reported, The UK ads regulator or United Kingdom’s Advertising Standards Authority, the UK Watchdog banned seven crypto-related promotions as a part of the wider focus on harmful crypto ads according to the BBC. The ASA targeted crypto promotions from Coinbase, Etoro, Papa John’s Luno Money, Payward, Coinburp, Exmo Exchange. All seven were banned for irresponsibly taking advantage of the consumer’s inexperience and for failing to illustrate the risks of investing in crypto. The ASA targeted a LUNO ad in May this year which said if you see BTC on the Underground, it is time to buy and the ASA considered that ban to be irresponsible.