The UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has upheld a complaint against an email marketing campaign by the National Lottery.

The email, one of a series sent to on-line lottery customers, read in part that "there were big jackpots to be won every week, so unless you've been abducted by aliens... you'll need a very good excuse for not playing every week - need an excuse?"

A further paragraph stated: "The more you play the more likely you are to win. And when you play the Lotto online there's plenty of opportunity to get in the draw. Give yourself even more of a chance by playing multiple lines at once, and playing for the Saturday and Wednesday draws".

A single complainant believed that the ad was irresponsible in that it implied that gambling was indispensible and that it encouraged excessive gambling. For its part, lottery operator Camelot Group said that the email was intended to be a light-hearted way of encouraging recipients to consider playing the lottery through their interactive channels.

In its adjudication, the ASA said it did not feel that the ad suggested there would be serious consequences from not playing, or that playing the Lottery should be a priority. However, in its suggestion that recipients had a higher chance of winning if they bought multiple lines, across the numerous Lottery games on both the Wednesday and Saturday weekly draws, the ad encouraged repeated and potentially excessive gambling and thus breached Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) Code clause 2.2.

It therefore ruled that the ad should not appear again in its current form.