Even though Snapchat is sometimes thought of as being loved by younger teens, parent company Snap said in February 2017 that the majority of its users are 18 to 34 years old. Snap told Diageo that 77 percent of U.K. Snapchat users were registered as being over 18, in Diageo’s response to the ASA’s investigation.
However, even though Snap told the ASA that it uses data to verify users’ ages, and that it now has the means to target ads to more specific audiences using “audience lenses,” the authority ruled that at the time the Captain Morgan ad ran it was using unverified age information supplied by users.
Snap said it was “disappointed” with the ASA ruling, in an emailed statement. It said that when someone signs up to the platform, they have to state their age, and Snap uses various “signals” such as behavioral and interest-based information to verify their claimed age, as other platforms do.
“While more options for age targeting on Snapchat have been added since July, we disagree that Diageo intentionally directed its lens to an underage audience when it applied the accurate 18-plus targeting available at the time. The ASA acknowledges the evidence we provided showing that ages supplied by Snapchatters are a robust way to age-restrict ads,” the statement said.
