The Advertising Standards Authority of the United Kingdom has banned a London subway promotion for Floki Inu, a cryptocurrency named after Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s dog, for allegedly preying on unsuspecting customers who are unaware of the risks of investing in digital crypto assets.
Consumers who may have missed out on making money from other successful cryptocurrencies, like Dogecoin, were enticed to join the investing craze by the ad campaign. Which included an image of a cartoon dog donning a Viking helmet.
Floki FOMO Tactic
It had been a week since I last heard from him. With the tagline “Get Floki,” the campaign warned that the value of an investment could “go down as well as up”. Those cryptocurrencies are unregulated in the United Kingdom in the fine print of the campaign.
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) looked into the ad campaign because it downplayed the risk of investing. It took advantage of customers’ anxieties of “losing out” on the cryptocurrency boom. Finally, it used their lack of information about the controversial financial instrument.
Floki, which debuted in June of last year, informed the ad watchdog that its emblem was critical to brand awareness. It was neither socially irresponsible nor contributing to the trivialization of investing in the “meme coin.”
It was based on Musk’s adopted Shiba Inu puppy Floki.
ASA decided that the usage of cartoon artwork portrayed a cheerful and straightforward matter of purchasing cryptocurrencies. Buyers’ attention instead drew away from the risky investment because of it.
The corporation also stated that the marketing campaign’s primary design was to alert the “educated consumer” to a new cryptocurrency possibility. The ad’s small print shielded the “typical customer.” In any event, it wouldn’t grasp the in-joke and play on words in the strapline.
The ASA determined that by airing on the capital’s tube network. They were targeting a broad audience. Many of whom would be familiar with the Bitcoin frenzy.
ASA Cracks its Whip
According to the watchdog, the warning small print’s relative size compared to the advertising phrase gave the prevailing impression to any passenger that buying Floki Inu immediately was essential to risk missing out on substantial gains.
The Treasury announced intentions in January to crack down on deceptive cryptocurrency promotions. This is by subjecting them to the same standards as marketing for traditional financial goods like stocks and insurance.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) would regulate crypto asset advertisements. It would bring them “in line with the same high standard that traditional financial marketing like stocks, shares, and insurance products exposes to.”
“The views and opinions on this Crypto News Website are solely those of the authors and contributors. These views and opinions do not necessarily represent those of iBaseTrading or its partners.”
