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https://theconversation.com/how-the-push-to-end-tobacco-advertising-in-the-1970s-could-be-used-to-curb-gambling-ads-today-200915>
"If you think you are seeing a lot more gambling ads on television and online
platforms, you are not imagining it. They are so common that high-profile AFL
players have refused to participate in sponsored gambling.
Online gambling companies are ploughing huge amounts of money into advertising,
and for good reason. The ads work. While fewer people are gambling overall,
online gambling is a booming industry.
There are uncanny parallels between the public health challenges posed by
gambling advertising today and tobacco advertising 50 years ago. In 1970, a
tobacco ad ran on Australian television every eight to 14 minutes. These ads
portrayed smoking as cool and adult, and often relied on celebrity
endorsements. They worked, driving a new generation of youth into smoking amid
predictions of a dramatic increase in the future cancer burden.
Like the tobacco industry in earlier decades, online gambling advertising
targets young people. Advertisements that use laconic, blokey humour and
carefully selected celebrities like former American basketball superstar
Shaquille O’Neal and American actor Mark Wahlberg are skilfully designed to
appeal to 18-to-24-year-old men. Young women also represent a growing customer
base.
Worryingly, research has shown children as young as 11 are susceptible to the
marketing and sales tactics of betting agencies, and that 75% of
8-to-16-year-olds think gambling is just a normal or common part of sport.
As with Commonwealth governments in the 1960s when faced with tobacco
advertising, today’s politicians have tinkered around the edges of gambling
advertising reform, but shied away from decisive action."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
