The  Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has banned a TV advert from UK bookmaker Coral after complaints that it linked gambling to seduction.

The ad shows two men sitting in a barbers shop, reading s newspaper and debating over placing a bet. Then a woman dressed as a jockey walks in, holding a sign bearing the odds for a horse in an upcoming race. Then she bends over the first man and touches his mobile phone with her whip. The man then places a bet through the Coral app on his phone whilst the voice-over states: “Great prices from Coral”.`

According to Coral, the ad made use “of an attractive female character” but it did not link gambling with seduction, sexual success or enhanced attractiveness. The bookmaker added that the woman did not flirt with or seduce the men and that it was the Coral Interactive offer itself that encouraged the men to place a bet.

However, the ASA responded that the manner in which the woman entered placed “an immediate emphasis” on her sexual attractiveness, as the camera angle initially focused on her knee-high boots and then cut to showing her midriff.

“Because she represented the Coral Interactive brand and was shown playing a seductive role in the scenario depicted, we concluded that the ad linked gambling to seduction and was therefore in breach of the Code,” the ASA added.

The ASA ruled that the advert must not be broadcast again in its current form.

Betradar has launched its Live Channel for retail betting shops with UK bookmaker Coral.

The bookmaker’s Live Channel has already been launched in more than 100 shops across the UK. Betradar has plans to introduce the service into 1,000 shops in the country within 12 months.

Betradar’s Live Channel was launched in 2013 and offers a combination of live odds, statistics and coverage from various sports events on a single screen.

The Live Channel covers leading sports events, including the French Ligue 1 and US Major Soccer League football competitions, ATP World Tour and WTA Tour tennis tournaments, as well as the German and Spanish Basketball league.

Betradar’s Live Channel is already incorporated in almost 1,000 betting shops across Europe and has recently expanded into the African market.

Coral marketing director Olly Raeburn said: “We’re always looking at ways of giving our customers more choice and we believe that the breadth and depth of additional content that Betradar’s Live Channel brings will add some genuine value to our product mix.”

“I am delighted that Coral have realised the great opportunity and potential of the Live Channel for their business. We have, within a remarkably short time, integrated the streaming channel via satellite distribution and adapted it to Coral’s corporate identity,” added Tom Edwards, Betradar’s director of sales.

The Coral Sportsplay game will be offering virtual money betting on real and virtual sport events and is powered by 2Bet2 and will launch on Facebook later this month.

Matt Prevost, Marketing Director of Coral Interactive said: “We know that many of our customers, both current and potential, are keen Facebook users. Giving them a Coral social gaming option on Facebook allows them to try their betting skills and test their sports knowledge without risk.”

Joining the Coral Sportsplay game on Facebook will reward players with a virtual bonus. Aside of the normal virtual bets, players can also take part in tournaments and player versus player contests. 

Adriaan Brink, CEO of Socialitize said: “We have invested considerable expertise and resources in the development of our unique and exciting Facebook social sports game. We are delighted that Coral have adopted 2BET2 Social Betting as the base for their chosen Facebook app and we see this as an endorsement of the product that we have developed.”

Coral has completed the acquisition of Cool Games.

The acquisition includes a library of exclusive games and creation of two social gaming applications. According to Angus Nisbet, gaming director at Coral Interactive, there’s an increased demand for multi-channel gaming and the purchase of Cool Games will help the company to boost its own service offering in this sector. 

“Since the launch of Coral’s digital platform just over a year ago, the company has continued to invest in mobile and online gaming, with a current library of over 300 titles available for its customers. Active customer numbers are increasing and spend per head is exceeding expectations,” said Nisbet. 

Coral has signed an agreement with Ruby Seven Studios, a social and mobile games developer from San Francisco, US. 

The partnership will combine Coral’s experience in land-based and online gaming with Ruby Seven Studio’s social and mobile gaming knowledge in order to create a new social gaming slots app and develop a network of social gaming customers. The first release of the app will contain Coral’s popular land-based games and a number of other social games. 

“With Ruby Seven’s excellent international social gaming experience, expertise and existing customer publishing base, this agreement enables us to take Coral’s own successful UK games innovatively into international social gaming markets. Coral now has a strong library and development pipeline of slots and other gaming content to provide customers with our games across all channels including social gaming,” said Mark Kemp, e-gaming director at Coral.