Marketing in the gambling industry is…creative – to say the least. We are always intrigued when a casino operator launches a new advertising campaign, if only to laugh at the sheer absurdity of it. We’ve picked out some of the most ridiculous ad campaigns in the gambling market from the past few years.
William Hill’s Teddy Bears
Teddy bears are usually children’s toys. You may buy one for your mum on Mother’s Day or your lover on Valentine’s Day – but they are largely geared towards children as playthings.
So, we wonder why William Hill would choose to use giant teddy bears to market its gambling services? Two 10-foot-tall teddy bears were hauled around London on the back of a truck, visiting various landmarks across the city.
Celebrating the birth of Prince William and Duchess Kate’s new baby, the bears display the odds that the couple would give birth to a baby boy or baby girl.
The campaign received plenty of complaints, and William Hill was ordered to take the teddy bears away.
“We told William Hill Betting not to use images of children or images that were likely to appeal to children or young people in future gambling ads,” reads a statement from the ASA.
It’s Oscar Time
During the 2014 Oscar Pistorius trial, Paddy Power launched a very controversial campaign. The Paralympian murdered his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on Valentines Day 2013, and the bookmaker had promised to return players’ bets if Pistorius ‘walked free’.
You would have to be pretty heartless if you don’t consider this campaigned hugely offensive. It not only makes light of murder but also disability. It received over 5000 complaints, as well as the title of ‘Most Complained Advert of 2014’.
Irresponsible Advertising
Two gambling operators recently got in hot water over some fairly irresponsible ad campaigns. In 2014, the UK’s Health Lottery offered players two weeks of play “free” if they paid for their tickets monthly and in advance. Several complaints were filed, stating that the campaign encouraged irresponsible gambling behaviour in lottery players.
Another case of irresponsible advertising is Jackpot Joy’s recent campaign, which promised players ‘up to 10 000 jackpots’ every hour. This campaign was irresponsible simply because it was misleading.
The site does not actually offer that many jackpots hourly, and the fine print read “min 13 games/day” – whatever that means.
The company defended the campaign by saying: “We considered that viewers would interpret the claim ‘every hour’ to mean there would be at least one jackpot each hour, for the entire 24-hour period”.
