You can’t gamble, drink or smoke unless you’re over 18.
Why is it that gambling can be advertised at all hours of the day, when children are watching their to, or attending a sporting event?
When I was a kid there were cigarette logos painted onto the fields. Governments reaped huge profits from that addictive habit as well. But we would never consider exposing children to that kind of advertising now.
Shouldn’t we as consumers of sporting products, events tickets and tax payers have a say in whether it’s appropriate to advertise adults only activity during all hours of the day?
I totally agree. While I’m not after more ‘nanny state’ I am after more ethical conduct. Gaming has gone mobile and it isn’t adding value to society in general and causes deep harm in some communities (a bit like the Pay Day Loan shark businesses). This industry needs better accountability and regulation and their super profit need to be gleaned, much like smoking, alcohol and other vice businesses - just regulate it ethically and move on
It is something that wrankles with me too! We have Governments at State and Federal trying to “control” escalating gambling problems but the ads for Betting and Book makers hit the screen at any time. It is normalising gambling and seeks to encourage the vulnerable to try to get money easily. You don’t see anyone losing money on these ads. They should be on much later in the evening if at all. If we cannot advertise beer drinking or cigarette smoking, except in the negative why is gambling OK?
My wife and I both disagree with Gambling being advertised in what could be termed “Family Friendly” time slots. I think until it has reached some reasonable hour say after 7:00 pm and before 7:00 am Gambling should not be allowed to advertised. They even now have a dedicated TV station for racing in our area (Channel 78 I think) which people could watch if they wish anytime as it could be managed/blocked using Parental Controls so that children did not inadvertently switch over to it.
If we had a means to block unsuitable advertising in family viewing hours I wouldn’t care if they did show it but as we don’t have that means then it should be banned.
Gambling should not be advertised period! We constantly hear of people going financial “under”. The State Government is so concerned that it spends taxpayers money propping up organisations to deal with this. Why keep suggesting to people to invest their hard earned money gambling. It is always presented as being fair and equitable. Any person must realise that they will lose in the long run. I have been there many years ago, fortunately after being behind $25k I woke up to myself and had a much happier life for it.
Bringing in actors such as Gary Sweet doesn’t make me any more inclined to start gambling, it just makes me think he’s become a jerk by pushing this crap through our TV screens! We don’t watch very much commercial TV, but we’re really sick of these annoying gambling ads, sometimes 2 per ad break. We normally reach for the remote to mute ads, but I heard one saying something about getting your money back to spend as you like if you dont win… at least that was the impression I got, but I know it’s got to be misleading.
I agree with lesayers56, gambling should not be advertised at all, but we all know the government makes so much income from it that these ads are unlikely to disappear any time soon.
Couldn’t agree more, what my concern is it normalises the idea of punting on sports to children.
If they see it advertised everywhere they think it is what adults do,
so when they get old enough for them having a punt is as normal as going to the shops.
But I am a realist as we know the gambling lobby is very powerful just witness the hotels association donating to the major parties to block pokies reforms and quite frankly most state governments are addicted to the taxes.
Yes I agree. I am fed up with watching these ads while seeing tennis, footy etc so I often turn it off. Stupid part is they follow them with ads for the ‘help line for gamblers’ which is shown at our expense, how stupid is that? Government making a killing on gambling while pretending to stop it. Australia’s government gone mad with greed not morality.
I totally agree with everyone in banning gambling comments on TV. I find them obnoxious and too many of them in a short period of time. Gambling is a disease that often is not controlled by many individuals and is a blight on our society as is drinking and smoking. In our weekend paper it said that Chris Judd, in his book, mentioned gambling amongst football players and that it can be a big problem, And now he is apparently advertising gambling on TV.
Also the hours advertisements are on is often in childrens time slot and could encourage kids to gamble. For heavens sake we have a Racing channel. At least leave these adverts there fo the people who are interested.
I agree the gambling advertising requires some BIG Changes. This adversting is dare I say it worse than the cigarette adverting in the the '80’s because it is an app in many cases and explaining why these apps are bad is a challenge. It is much easier to explain to children why the can’t go into a TAB or similar. The explanation is a challenge as the apps seem to be very similar to games with in app purchases which are another bane of my life, as so many games are about earning points to “buy” xxxx. This is hardly different from betting.
Disgraceful situation. Every evening, whilst kids are still watching, we get advertisements on tv encouraging and ‘giving’ incentives to gamble. Totally unethical and morally degrading. Please do everything possible to STOP this shameful brainwashing. If I am able to assist, please let me know
Alan Roy Palmer
I think many of us see the links between mobile app gaming normalising online gambling behaviour. It is aimed at much younger children now, (gems! farms!) in much less supervised situations than the family PC. I’d like to see regulation preventing under 18s from purchasing apps with “in-app purchases” so that once you have the game, there’s no more money required.
There will still be tokens to barter and gamble within the game - but if there is a clear delineation between pending your hard earned cash, and “risking” tokens, it might make kids see there’s a substantive difference.
It might also leads the gaming market to focus on adult products for the big money, and quality gaming experiences for broadens audiences including kids.
Hear Hear !!! All forms of gambling advertising incenses me no end ! I will frequently come out with the ‘F’ word when I see it in front of me on the scabrous TV. For god’s sake let’s get some politicians with backbone to bring in legislation banning it completely, from EVERYWHERE !!! And while they’re at it, shut down the loopholes that allow these bastard gambling companies to hide away up in the NT !!
I agree absolutely, but there is a lack of will to tackle this sort of advertising, since the industry needs to target new potential gamblers in the future i.e. children, and our governments rely on dollars from this industry to prop up our public health system. What I am also appalled by, is our government giving our tax dollars to the industry for family events at racing tracks, where children are enticed with “show bags” and “fun” activities. There is nothing in the gambling Act to stop this, yet they minors can’t go into a TAB or the Casino. Something needs to be done to stop these loopholes in the gambling Act, so that children are not exposed to these forms of gambling events and advertising.
I’ve noticed games, such as bubble popping games, advertise “slots” and “bingo” which are all about gambling. “Starting them early” is the apparent motto of the big gaming houses.
Yes, it is up to the parents to keep their children disinterested, however the advertising is subversive and dangerous. The answer is to stop gambling advertising completely. Also, apps need to be prevented from advertising games which mimic gambling machines as it is normalising the use of such things. Removing ads for smoking reduced smoking (along with a raft of other policies) so the same could be done for gambling.
Time to step up the action on this one.
In fact Tas state government funding would be severely affected if we lost the gambling tax - they have been playing footsies with Federal Group [and others] for so long, ministers have forgotten about ethics. Federal government also cut our share of funding to make sure that nothing would rock the boat.
Absolutely not on, fed up with these damned ads, On the subject of exposure to gambling, what about hotels serving meals and having a separate ‘gambling section’ for the children. They don’t win money, but they get a gift, no doubt costing a lot less than the sums gambled. Mornington Peninsula pub at Hastings I am told.
I’ll check the Hastings Pub out…and make a comment or refer it to the MP Council.
Another is -
The small ‘stamp size’ sticker attached to ‘McDonalds’ drinks for kids it says:-
“Keep me for more chances to win” Then you peel the back off and it says: CHANCE CARD ? Download the App Scan Code
1-5 chances to win AU$999. (a code number) then, Redeem by 02/11/16. See terms and conditions.
Should be banned…isn’t there any regulation/policing of these scams??
Technically any kind of raffle is a game of chance, as are collector cards, where you end up with 5 cards of the same player.
While I agree all these things can be problematic, and I agree parents have a responsibility. We know that parents model bad behaviour for kids all the time, say one thing, do the other.
My parents always told me not to smoke, but they kept smoking. It’s a hard habit to quit, I was an adult by the time my dad finally kicked it.
This is where normalising gambling through constant advertising during sports is a problem. It is an addictive habit, most people lose significantly more than they pay in, and the risks and realities of addiction are not dealt with, the advertising always shows winners. You and I know this is not reality, but not everyone was brought up to know this.
