British Airways gets a severe rating for promoting gambling games
During the holiday season, British Airways has been given a rough time for their marketing campaign. The company is accused of creating an ‘overly optimistic image of gambling industry’ and of promoting gambling in general.
The reason for the criticism became British Airways TV ad: a married couple returns home from their vacation. They walk through the casino hall. If it’s not hard evidence see what happens next. The couple wins $500 for several spins on video slots. Most probably those spins have been made with the help of a no deposit bonus.
Among those who find the advertisement disturbing are many influential politicians. Ian Duncan Smith sees it as ‘an awful ad’ and thus its existence is at the highest level of concern. This opinion is shared by some cross-party politicians who are preparing an angry letter to the airlines about the socially dangerous video.
The most disturbing fact in this scandal is that the provocative ad came out after the limitation put on gambling operators in terms of advertising. These restrictions are aimed to protect mentally unbalanced people (kids and teens in particular) from involving in gambling.
Mark Etcher - the head of the charity fund fighting gambling addiction - shares his regrets about poor mass media coverage of the topic. Mass media often depicts gambling as something positive whilst all the negative effects are kept secret or underestimated. The same applies to advertising online casinos that accept Canadian dollars. Such lack of balance is especially dangerous for Britain with 400 000 people suffering from gambling addiction.
In most cases, severe gambling addiction can result in families’ dissolutions, job losses, and personalities’ decays. The devastating effect depends on the stage of the addiction and on the medication. With total ignorance of the effects that gambling can have on the population, the number of problem gambling causes will only increase dramatically.
The criticism has led British Airways to the announcement in one of the interviews. The company’s officials insist that the scandal video is one of many other promotional materials provided by sponsors. The series of such ads was created to promote different products not only casinos. What’s more, the airline claims that the video was approved by Clearcast - the head body of the holding company, - thus they see no reason for concern from the public.