Too easy. Gambling advertising is everywhere, and it works. Photo: File.
I love those gambling ads on TV. They are among the wittiest and funniest around.
They hit their targets every time and perfectly suit the insidious nature of an industry that somehow over the years has gone from a quiet flutter on the horses on a Saturday afternoon at the local TAB to a 24/7 online operation capturing just about every sport on the planet.
It used to be said that Aussies would bet on two flies crawling up a wall so I wouldn’t be surprised if there was soon an app and an ad for that, followed of course by a useless warning about how much you’re really losing.
Like the smoking ads that accompanied the cricket and football broadcasts, and the alcohol ads that still do at a certain time of the night, the gambling ads seem inseparable from the nation’s diet of top flight sport.
But a federal parliamentary committee and public health experts want to see the back of them, calling for a blanket ban.
Leaks to the media suggest that the Albanese Government would only go halfway, proposing to ban gambling ads online, during televised sports matches and an hour either side of live sport.
It would also cap two ads an hour during general TV programming.
Gambling is big multi-national business with a marketing budget to match. Like the dopamine hits of a slot machine or the oh-so-easy tapping of keys to place a bet, these ads are designed to create a culture of betting, usually among male bonhomie, and ensnare more young boys in particular into the glamour of easy money and quick wins.
It’s all BS of course. Everybody knows you can’t beat the house. But she’ll be right, just set a deposit limit as the matey advice goes at half-time.
It should never have gotten to this stage, where the number of gambling companies and products have proliferated to pose such a threat to wellbeing – financial and otherwise – of the growing numbers of people caught in their inescapable web.
And to the integrity of the sports on which they thrive.
The capacity for corruption and criminal activity is proportional to the amount of money being wagered, and that is considerable.
I wish the government could just make the parasitic gambling companies go away, but of course governments everywhere benefit from the taxes they pay and are susceptible to their lobbying.
It is no surprise that the companies would try to salvage what they can of their marketing reach because the ads work and deliver customers.
But it is disappointing that the Albanese Government would try to come up with a policy result that gives both sides some sort of win.
Labor is simply gambling with the future of young Australians by contemplating only a partial ad ban.
The least it could do was follow the recommendation of the bipartisan parliamentary committee and ban the lot.
I’m sure the same advertising creatives will find other products to expend their wit on to entertain us.