By
Steve Muchoki
March 18th, 2024
On August 6, 2021, the club posted the first advertisement describing the token and how it might be used in the Socios app.
Arsenal Football Club has been handed a second warning by Britain’s advertising watchdog for failing to warn fans of the potential risks associated with crypto that it is promoting. The North London club has been in a partnership agreement with digital fan token company Socios and has been promoting the token on its platforms.
The club has subsequently delegated voting rights on official decisions to fans, also providing them with “the opportunity to earn VIP real-life experiences, unrivaled access to digital club-related events”.
Despite an appeal, the Advertising Guidelines Authority (ASA) upheld its decision to penalize the Premier League team because two advertisements for the Arsenal fan token violated the regulator’s standards.
On August 6, 2021, the club posted the first advertisement describing the token and how it might be used in the Socios app.
The second advertisement consisted of a Facebook post that was published six days later and featured Arsenal football players endorsing the token along with text that provided a brief overview of $AFC, the Chiliz ($CHZ) cryptocurrency, and the Socios app.
According to reports, ASA found that the Facebook post failed to inform fans that the tokens are crypto assets and omitted to mention that in order to receive $AFC (publicly, as opposed to through the free giveaway), fans needed to have a crypto exchange account and purchase the digital currency $CHZ.
The ASA stated that Arsenal Football club took advantage of their consumers’ lack of knowledge and inexperience in crypto assets to mislead them by not stating that the NFTs were purchased with another cryptocurrency.
According to reports, Arsenal also sent a promotional email to fans last year, offering them a chance to win a free non-tradable $AFC Fan Token.
The club was criticized by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) for failing to adequately explain that “the value of an investment in paid-for tokens was variable” and for posting the adverts on social media and the club’s official website.
The Premier League club also failed to inform its fans that cryptocurrency holdings were uncontrolled.
The ASA described the ad campaigns as “irresponsible,” stating that “by not making clear that capital gains tax (CGT) could be payable on profits from investing in paid-for fan tokens, we concluded the ads were irresponsible and breached the Code.”
The advertisements “must not appear again in the form complained about,” the ASA stated in its latest ruling.
In its present advertising of the Socios fan token on its official website, Arsenal has included a risk warning advising customers that the tokens are a type of cryptocurrency asset, and has also clarified that after downloading the Socios app, users must buy Chiliz ($CHZ) and swap it for the fans’ token.