Filthy Lucre

[POMMReg]

What do others think of "Celebs" using their status to advertise these online betting sites?

[geoberni]

I'm not a Gambler/Better, so I ignore them.
I haven't brought a Lottery ticket since about 2-3 years after it started, so over 20 years.
I worked in Nevada for 3 years and lived in the suburbs of Las Vegas, about 3 miles from The Strip.
Despite going to Casinos for their shows around once a month, at most I spent $100 on Slots or Tables in the entire 3 years.

[Propshaft]

My opinion for what it's worth all adverts for gambling should be banned.

[Admin]

Gambling ads skirt on the very edges of the law and regularly go beyond by using affiliates to commit offences and then dumping them in faux horror when they're exposed. I sent a complaint to Gala Bingo for illegal advertising only yesterday and will follow it up with the Ombudsman if they don't deal with it swiftly, not because I'm affected by the ads but because too many people just sigh and move on and not enough decide to actually complain.

[Nourish]

Not quite the same topic although it fits the title -
Here in Bristol the Council are thinking of banning Strip Clubs.
I've never visited one myself and would be quite happy to see them go.

[Owlsman]

I'm probably going to stick my head above the parapet here by suggesting that gambling and any of the other addictive 'vices' (alcohol, drugs, smoking etc.) are not compulsory. In a free society, they are all lifestyle choices.

Of course, I accept that some, if not all, of the companies selling these products are exactly models of moral probity, in the way that their advertising is targeted. I don't know enough on the subject to know what advertising is legal or otherwise. If it is felt that a legal line has been crossed, then it should certainly be challenged through the appropriate channels.

We all have choices which we elect to make. The last time I looked, no-one was being forced at gunpoint to enter a bookies, a pub or an off-licence.

I know it's not quite the same thing but following an accident 3 years ago, I now have a chronic 24/7 pain in between my shoulder blades. To mitigate the constant discomfort I have to take a strong painkiller which is known to be highly addictive in many people. It has to be ordered every 4 weeks from my GP as it is not available on a rolling prescription basis. The thing is, I know that it is addictive and sometimes (thankfully not often) when I have been tempted to have 'an extra tablet' I have resisted because I don't want to get 'hooked'......more than I am already anyway, just to keep the pain manageable! That is the choice I have made, just as I chose not to smoke, drink to excess or gamble all my hard-earned dosh away.

It's not always someone else's fault for the decisions you chose to make. Let me go and find my tin hat now.

[Admin]

I couldn't possibly agree more with the sentiment of your post, if not the output. Most definitely we appear to have grown out of the habit of taking personal responsibility for our choices and it is important to address that. Having said that, it does not excuse companies deliberately targeting people in high risk categories. As an example, I usually only look after my lads until they hit eighteen and then they move into independence, but a handful of years ago I had a young man of nineteen still with me doing independence skills. He made the mistake, easily done, of borrowing some money from a payday loan company and you wouldn't believe the way they try to keep claws in once they've found a 'customer'. They used to regularly send him unsolicited signed cheques for hundreds of pounds along with a letter saying all he had to do was pay it into his bank. This young man earned a few tens of pounds a week attending skills college. They carried on targeting him even after he moved and eventually I opened the letters and rang them to complain - they had the nuts to tell me I shouldn't interfere with their mail. Another young man had a new phone bought from Brighthouse by his parent. I asked them how much it had cost and they admitted they didn't know - in that store there are posters simply saying how much you pay a week for something. You were forced to insure the item bought using their hugely inflated in house insurer, and missing a payment meant they came round and attempted to force entry to reclaim 'their' goods. They came here once. Just once. I physically put their rep outside my gate and told him that next time he came through it, he'd be leaving with a broken arm. Utter scum, using bully boy tactics on people unaware of their rights.
Morally bankrupt companies like these don't need us blaming their customers for their business tactics. They need to be held to account and driven out of business (as Wonga have been).

[Owlsman]

I'm sure, Mike, we're both on the same side here. I abhor, as much as you do, the bully boy tactics of the scumbag outfits that you have described. There's a difference between targeted advertising (eg: kids toys on CBeebies, rather than during News at Ten) and exploitation of vulnerable people.

We do seem to have drifted a bit off-topic though......even in an 'off-topic' section. The OP was about celebs appearing in on-line gaming ads and again, it is my choice to make a decision. Personally, I no more believe that a certain gravelly-voiced cockney is gripping his mobile on a Saturday afternoon ready to 'check out' at any moment, than I do that Eamonn and Ruth Holmes are seriously considering an equity release package to fund their retirement. Adverts are not documentaries, so if anyone really does really believe them and take them as 'gospel'.......well, I'm perhaps not the best person to come running to for advice.

It is easy for any of us to take the high moral ground, when the reality is that none of us are likely to be offered an eye-watering sum of money, for perhaps half a day's all expenses paid work, which involves nothing more than being ourselves. Now, if we were.............???

Alan

[les]

Let’s hope Ruth and Eamonn sort their feet problems out with that revitaliser they are keen to show us.

[irmscher]

Money is the root of all evil

[myoldjalopy]

Ah, no. The love of money is the root of all evil.......

[irmscher]

Money certainly doesn't buy happiness but it helps .I wouldn't buy anything a celebrity has endorsed especially anything to do with gambling

[Admin]

Money certainly doesn't buy happiness but it helps .I wouldn't buy anything a celebrity has endorsed especially anything to do with gambling

cry.png (60.45 KiB) Viewed 3353 times

[POMMReg]

Money is the root of all evil

Preached by Religion & the Rich

[irmscher]

That is very correct Chris

[Bigrob]

I agree about the point above in regards to targetted advertising, pointless advertising hair removal cream and shampoo during robot wars etc.

But a lot of the gambling companies tactics can really be seen as predatory, as with payday loan companies.

I'm not ashamed to admit that when I was around 18/19 I dug myself a rather deep hole with both online gambling and payday loans.

I blew £1200 in 5 days on online slot machines, which to anyone is an obvious problem, and when I ran out of money, I received numerous emails offering me 'free spins' and 'extra bonuses' to get me back playing. I even received phone calls from them.

At the time was hard for money anyway, and it was around the same time I took out a payday loan for £500, when I was only earning £800 a month.

When I unavoidably missed a payment, I had emails telling me don't worry about the repayment, and found they had 'gifted' me £100 to 'help out'.

In my ignorance, I wont say naivety, I took it as a gift, and didn't want to believe I would get the added interest to go with it.

In the end, that £500 cost me over £3000.

A digression I know, but targeting and luring the vulnerable is not on

[irmscher]

That's how these companies make a lot of money with there massive interest rates .

[POMMReg]

Anyone seen that ad with that awful Keith Lemon character?

He would test the most peaceful pacifist...

[Admin]

He's got a face I could never stop slapping lol

[POMMReg]

Holly Willowby, Paul Scofield, Rylan Clark & that annoying Barrowman person,.....

Definite candidates to "push into the path of a Combine Harvester".