According to the authority, the advertisement’s “Missed Doge” claim was unacceptable. “Get Floki” claimed that the ad “exploited consumers’ fears of missing out and trivialized cryptocurrency investment,” according to the regulator.
Floki Ad Baned in the UK
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) is the U.K.’s regulator for advertising. It published its Wednesday “Ruling on Floki inu”.
After the Floki ad appeared on London’s public transport, the advertising authority began investigating the campaign for floki (FLOKI), a cryptocurrency inspired by Elon Musk’s shiba-inu dog.
The ad features a floki-inu logo and text saying, “Missed Doge?” Get Floki. It also has smaller text at its bottom that says, “Your investment could go down as much as it goes up in value.” The UK does not regulate cryptocurrency.
After an investigation, the ASA ruled that:
An image of a cartoon dog in a Viking helmet with the claim “Missed Doge” was used. Get Floki exploited the fear of missing out by trivializing investment in cryptocurrency.
The advertising watchdog also ruled that the ad “was irresponsible” because it “took advantage consumers’ inexperience and credulity.”
The ASA stated that it had instructed the flokiinu team “to ensure they didn’t irresponsibly exploit consumers’ fear of missing out and trivialize cryptocurrency investment.”
The ASA concluded:
The ad cannot be used again in the complaint form.
Advertising authority also pointed out that the disclaimer at bottom of the ad was too small in comparison to the text “Missed doge?” Get Floki.” According to the ASA, “Despite the qualification text, the dominant impression of the ad consisted of the pressing need for floki to stop consumers losing out in a similar way as they could with dogecoin.”
The British advertising authority is cracking down on misleading cryptocurrency ads. The ASA prohibited seven crypto ads from Papa John’s Pizza and Coinbase.
Additionally, the U.K government has announced in Jan its plans to impose new rules for cryptocurrency advertisements to “protect consumers against misleading claims.”
