MPs criticise ‘safe gambling’ adverts

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The Betting and Gaming Council and its members have been criticised by MPs following their recent ‘safe gambling’ advertisements that have replaced their usual promotion campaigns.

 

The BGC said in April that they would pull all of their members’ television and radio advertisements by May 7 for a minimum of six weeks, with the length of the hiatus matching the United Kingdom’s lockdown measures.

 

It came after a number of parties expressed their concern over the effects of lockdown on problem gamblers, in particular from MPs, some of which felt the ban should’ve been in place from the start of lockdown.

 

Figures have shown that online gambling has remained a popular pastime for many during quarantine despite there being no sport to bet on. Instead, many have made the decision to switch to betting on casino games and online bingo.

 

Friday saw the first wave of the new safer gambling message advertisements and the legitimacy of their message has already come under question less than a week into the campaign beginning.

 

A cross-party letter sent to the culture minister, Nigel Huddleston, said the new television and radio messages have proven to be little more than glorified ads for their products. 

 

New adverts have included Coral promoting tools to stop punters from losing as much money, such as deposit limits, while one advert from casino site Mr Green ended by saying: “Enjoy award-winning online casino with Mr Green.”

 

Other bookmakers have chosen to promote their casino products in the wake of there being little professional sport to bet on, with casino sites receiving a spike in player activity during the lockdown process.

 

The cross-party group, which includes Labour’s Carolyn Harris and the former Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith, said: “These are clearly just forms of advertising under the thinly veiled guise of a social responsibility message.”

 

They added that these adverts are “a demonstration of the failure of self-regulation by the industry” and have since called for government intervention to help those who are seen as most vulnerable.

 

BGC members have also continued to advertise their products through other direct marketing channels such as email, text message and social media, meaning their members are still regularly told about their offers and promotions during lockdown, perhaps more often than they would on TV or radio.

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