It’s not just Australian rule makers demanding gambling advertising is toned down.
SkyVegas.com, an online gambling company, is being forced to stop screening its ad which “glamourises” gambling after a complaint was received by the Advertising Standards Authority in the UK.
The company, partly owned by Rupert Murdoch’s pay TV group came under fire, for the advertisement (watch above) which critics say is making gambling look easy.
“This morning he was doing his recycling,” runs the voiceover, “but right now he’s in Sky Vegas. And here, he’s the roulette rock star riding an electric riff of red and black.”
While the company is probably licking its lips at the extra publicity the ban has created, they defended the tact they took with it extensively.
“There was no reference or inference that he was, indeed, a musician whose abilities were enhanced and became a better musician or ‘rock star’ because of his gambling,” The company released in a statement. “‘Michael’ remained the same person with the same everyday qualities … he only felt like a ‘rock star’ because of the excitement of playing at Sky Vegas.”
It is topical in Australia at the moment with anti-pokies campaigner and South Australian senator Nick Xenophon and Tasmanian MP Andrew Wilkie demanding the newly-elected Malcolm Turnbull government place a ban on advertising during sporting events, as well as enforcing a $1 bet limit on pokies machines.
The pair are demanding Federal reform and look set to have some success with the government’s ability to get anything done largely resting with the independents and the greens.
“I first saw the damage poker machines were causing while working in my suburban legal practice in the mid 1990’s,” he said.
“That’s why I ran for State Parliament in 1997 on a ‘No Pokies’ platform. And I ran for the Federal Senate in 2007 because I believe the best way to bring about real change is to have national laws.”
“The problem with State governments is that they are hooked on the $4billion a year they rake in pokies taxes.”
