The UK’s advertising watchdog has cleared Channel 5 of wrongdoing for airing ads for online gambling companies during a program about a man with a gambling problem. The UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) received 13 complaints from viewers who felt ads for Full Tilt Poker’s Rush Poker Mobile and NetPlay TV’s SuperCasino brand had no business appearing in that particular episode of My Spiral Into Debt Hell, which featured the story of a man who ran up a £70k debt from betting online.
Both FTP’s parent company Rational Group and NetPlay insisted they had no control over when their spots aired, so long as it wasn’t before television’s 9pm watershed for gambling ads. The ASA acknowledged the presence of the ads relative to the show’s subject material was “incongruous,” but ultimately ruled that their scheduling “was not irresponsible, or an unsuitable juxtaposition that could cause distress or offense to viewers.”
Last week, Reuters revealed that the European Commission was planning to urge European Union member states to require tobacco-style health warnings on online gambling adverts. Such warnings could include specifics odds of winning and losing, info on the risks of developing problem gambling tendencies and details on where to seek help for gambling addiction. (Similar measures were introduced last year in the state of South Australia.) The EC also intends to push for a ban on online gambling sites sponsoring sporting events that appeal to youth. The EC’s suggestion isn’t binding on its members, but the move could tip the balance in countries that already have a dim view of online gambling.
Such anti-gambling messages occasionally misfire, as evidenced by a recent spot by Singapore authorities that is generating unexpected mirth among World Cup gamblers. The spot (viewable below), released one month ago by the National Council on Problem Gambling, features a bunch of kids sitting around offering opinions on who will win the World Cup and why. After a string of kids select teams like Argentina, Brazil or Spain based on their football prowess or national heritage, a sullen kid wearing Brazil’s canary yellow colors muses that he hopes Germany wins because “my dad bet all my savings on them.”
The fact that Germany, fresh off its 7-1 thrashing of Brazil, is now one match away from hoisting the World Cup trophy for the fourth time was not lost on bettors, who are now celebrating the kid’s dad for his savvy investment in the kid’s college fund. Variations on the phrase ‘father knows best’ are making the social media rounds and even Singapore’s Manpower Minister Tan Chuan-Jin joined in the fun, posting a note on his Facebook profile that the kid’s dad “will be laughing all the way to the bank.”
