Why are UK Advertising regulators miffed with Floki Inu ad?

Highlights

• The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has found that Floki Inu’s ads in the London Underground were a case of irresponsible advertising.
• The Floki Inu ads created a wide buzz in November last year wherein a poster displayed an image of a dog with a Viking helmet. The ad was titled “Missed Doge? Get Floki”.
• ASA said that the ad exploited the consumers' FOMO and thereby took advantage of their inexperience.

UK’s independent advertising regulator Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has been stringent on various crypto exchanges operating in the country for their irresponsible marketing strategies. The ASA has often penalised leading crypto exchanges, such as Crypto.com Coinbase, Kraken, etc., for advertising irresponsibly for displaying misleading ads.

The advertising strategy of cryptocurrencies has often been scrutinised by regulators across the world. The regulators believe that irresponsible ads will often expose the consumers to invest in risky coins and lose money.

The latest one to bear the brunt of it is the Floki Inu crypto, wherein the ASA declared that its ads, which were displayed in the London Underground, are a case of irresponsible advertising.

Also read: THORCHain (RUNE) crypto: Why is it bullish of late?

Why Are UK Advertising Regulators Miffed With Floki Inu Ad?

What was the FLOKI ad?

The Floki Inu ads created a wide buzz in November last year wherein a poster displayed an image of a dog with a Viking helmet. The ad was titled “Missed Doge? Get Floki”. The day the ad hit the market it saw a significant bump in FLOKI’s prices as it witnessed a price rally of over 89%.

Though the FLOKI team had made their best efforts to display the necessary disclaimers, which stated that: ‘Your investment may go down as well as up in value. Cryptocurrency is not regulated in the UK’. But ASA felt that they trivialised the concept of investment.

As soon as it hit the London Underground, several travellers had tweeted about the ad, which was spread like a wildfire. At that time, the Floki Inu team had plans to expand it to other countries, like the US, China, and Japan.

In its defence, the Floki Inu team stated that their ad had complied with the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) norms. It added that the image used was in fact the corporate logo that was used for brand recognition.

Also read: Why is the UMA crypto rallying today?

ASA’s stand

Taking a stern stand, The ASA banned the Floki Inu ad and directed that these types of ads must not appear again. The Advertising Standards Authority feels that the ad in a way exploited the consumers' FOMO and thereby took advantage of their inexperience. The ASA officials said that investors, who don’t have experience in the crypto space, may not have grasped all the references in the ad.

As digital currencies are a high profile and topical matter, for the general audience it would same as any ad promoting a cryptocurrency in direct comparison to another.

Conclusion

With crypto marketing coming under the Financial Conduct Authority’s purview, exchanges need to be careful how they promote their business. The recent stance of the regulators is a strong message about how crypto ads should be presented and how the teams need to be careful about their campaign not to confuse the investors and laymen.

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