From my personal experience, I have seen television commercials for casinos and gambling, however there is always a disclaimer placed after the ad. This feature always perplexed me. Gambling is something that can change lives. It can be seen as an addiction, and protecting people from following a detrimental financial habit is an important responsibility for the advertising industry.
The ASA or the Advertising Standards Authority is noticing the increase of gambling advertising and ads that are targeted to younger audiences. People that are more vulnerable to acquire a gambling addition, such as young children, are being bombarded with gambling advertisement. This is not just from television, but also from gambling sponsored championships, sponsored t-shirts, and other sponsorship arrangements. According to the ASA's research, children under the age of 18 were exposed to advertising ads 151 times and 5 companies broke the laws regarding advertising to minors. This bombardment of gambling advertisements to younger audience creates a mistrust in the advertising industry as a whole. The ASA through The Gambling Commission is looking for ways to control these ads. It is difficult for them to make policies because they cannot regulate the quantity of ads. The ASA is looking for more funding in order to be able to regulate the gambling industry more effectively.
Marketing Week Article
This sounds very similar to what was happening with the cigarette industry decades ago. Major players in the industry began creating advertisements and even toys and candy to try and get the underage demographic interested in smoking.
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