Game of Chance - Design Context essay by John Robertson

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“THE GAME OF CHANCE” WHY IS IT UNETHICAL TO PROMOTE GAMBLING?...

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This booklet will discuss; 1.

The way in which betting firms advertise in the UK The “Ladbrokes Life” ad campaign Football sponsorships Social media/gambling in gaming, putting children at risk

Gambling, the game of chance, we all know what it is, some people may not know what it is all about, or the dire consequences that can come with it, but they get the gist.

Gambling has been around ever since people have had possessions or currency to gamble with and the act is supposed to be seen as a bit of fun, or a satisfying thrill that can also win you some money along the way.

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Gambling addictions can ruin lives, for the person ajor betting firms themselves and everyone like Ladbrokes, Coral, surrounding them Paddy power and Sky including family and Bet all make billions of peers. Having worked pounds in revenue every in a bookmakers for 6 year in retail shops and years, I have witnessed online websites from first-hand the way an punters pockets, even addiction can grab a now during a full-on person and make them pandemic crisis. Just behave like someone like every other huge completely different. company on the planet, And more often than

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bookmakers spend a small fortune on branding, promotions and advertising. And these methods of advertising are what draws in customers.

What they are actually selling is a feeling, a dopamine rush. A customer does not have to be addicted to gambling to feel like they have spent more money than they probably should have.

not, there’s very little that I can do for them from behind the counter and most addicts wont admit to having an addiction. Betting firms use advertising in the same way that other companies do to their advantage. But once you’ve seen the impact an addiction can have on a friend, family member or loved one’s life, it all seems extremely shameless and twisted.

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they But what exactly are Know what advertisements. know that securing the betting firms projecting to promotion and the thrill their customers through of the bet will overcome branding? Ladbrokes’ gambling the new customers will branding is made up of to read all of the terms two colours and branding and and conditions. We are all only a clear typeface, even human, and as humans, before rebranding the adverts are we are all creatures of original logo was made curiosity and habit, and up of red and white. betting firms will use that In western graphic projecting to their advantage to gain design we associate red

certainly be compared to the act of smoking, in that it is the endorphins that are released when you think you are in for a chance of winning and the dopamine rush when you win that gets people hooked, similar to the feelings an addicted smoker would experience. Except of course it is now illegal to advertise smoking in

returning and regular customers.

The reason betting firms thrive is because they are projecting to their customers that they are fun, exciting and passionate about sport, and that they are extremely wealthy, creating the premise that there is lots of money to win from them from a customer’s point of view. For this reason, most bookmakers use both deep, rich colours

with passion, love and excitement, and that is exactly what the company want to portray about their brand. Ladbrokes do not need to show off that they have a lot of money, at least not in their branding, as the sheer number of adverts and promotions they produce does all of that for them. To try and prove my point I asked 5 people who I knew had very little experience with gambling, to describe

a positive light, and the only advertisements for this now have negative connotations. All betting companies know the thrill customers seek when placing a bet and this is exactly what they draw from when creating their

in their graphics and also bright, brilliant eyecatching colours. There will almost always be some humour included in their advertisements to make it more memorable and “boost their odd’s” of viewers retaining it.

the Ladbrokes logo (Image above) to me, without cheating. Every respondent mentioned the red and white colours and even 3 of them rightly guessed that the typography was in “italics”.

G ambling could

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4.

“ This is the Ladbrokes Life”

L adbrokes launched an

to the problems of excessive gambling, advertisement campaign each with a huge smile called “Ladbrokes life” on their faces suggesting that revolved around a group of close-knit “lads”, there are only positive connotations. Backlash depicting that gambling is a game, a part of every- surrounding gambling advertisements such as day life, Ladbrokes even “Ladbrokes life” triggered named them all in the companies like “Gamcare” advert. There was “The and “GambleAware,” Believer”, “Generous to act. People who John”, “Brightside”, have highly addictive “The Professor” and personalities, people “The Gut Truster”. the adverts were always short with mental disabilities, and even children who and funny making them grow up seeing the extremely memorable. advertisements and This is the advertisement promotions from a young that sparked a lot of age are all vulnerable to controversy in the UK. the dangers of gambling.

The main reason was Both “Gamcare” and that the advertisement “GambleAware” are glorified all faces linked

Independent charities that are doing their part 5 in raising awareness about problem gambling and helping those who have been affected.

Together they have already changed the way in which bookmakers can advertise in shops and online. Betting shops are no longer allowed to advertise FOBT’s (fixed odd’s betting terminals / roulette and slots machines) as up until April 1st, 2019, the maximum amount you could stake per spin was £100. Making it entirely possible that you could lose £100 every 30 seconds.

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Sponsorships directly target children as young as 3 years old...

A lthough betting firms

such as “FUN88” and appear to look like they “betway” on display for are doing all they can to children to see branded encourage responsible across the tops of their gambling and discourage favourite players, most of bad betting habits through which are idols and hero’s more recent advertising, in the eyes of hundreds children as young as 3 of thousands of young are still being directly children across the country. influenced by gambling A lot of leagues and teams advertisements and refuse sponsorships from sponsorships. However, gambling websites for the betting firms are not this very reason and it’s fully to blame. Football something I believe other leagues and teams are leagues should take on. also at fault for accepting he nations love for sponsorships from big football carries over to betting companies.

FIFA (an anually updated Football is the biggest video game developed sport in the entire world

by Electronic Arts), one and gambling firms use sponsorships in the same of the many games that encourage using real way companies such as Nike and Adidas would to money to buy credits, that can then be spent on gain more customers, by getting big name players the chance of unlocking to wear the brand. Teams gamers favourite players in the UK have companies in their “Ultimate team’s”

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game mode. Games such as Fortnite and Overwatch are very much the same, both encouraging gambling but in the form of having a chance of unlocking cosmetic items in game by using credits that were purchased with real money. It is issues like this that are not being taken seriously, these companies try to find loopholes in the system so that they can still use gambling for cosmetic items, as a viable part of gameplay and then advertise deals on game credit discounts. All three games mentioned above have a minimum age requirement of 12 to play.

The issues in this booklet are literally just the tip of the iceberg and there’s so much more that can be covered in this area.

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Socially Unacceptable Media...

The blame falls onto the shoulders of social media platforms such as Facebook as well as betting firms and sports clubs. Both Snapchat and Facebook accept money to advertise gambling on their applications, even though the minimum age requirement to make an account with both platforms is 13 years of age, and not 18 – which is the legal age to gamble.

Advertising gambling puts children and vulnerable people at risk...

The way in which advertising agencies promote gambling is immoral, and there is not enough being done to protect children and the vulnerable from being targeted. This is largely down to the fact that there is not enough awareness surrounding the subject. Although advertisements surrounding gambling have evolved over time with the help of Gamcare and GambleAware, especially the last few years,

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gambling remains a massive issue across the UK. As long as sports idols and relatable people continue to be used in betting companies’ advertisements, the public will always remain drawn to this habit. And as long as social media platforms are accepting money from gambling firms to advertise, children will be directly influenced without their parents being any the wiser. Perhaps if, like smoking, all positive connotations with the act of betting were to be abolished this would help tackle the issue.

John Robertson