Yo, peeps! So, these brains at the University of Bristol dug into the ad scene during the first English Premier League games, and guess what? Self-regulation is like totally bombing! 😱
The researchers from Bristol’s cool business school checked out TV, radio, and social media between August 11-14, and dang, they found some wild stats. Like, 92% of the 391 ads from gambling brands were playing by their own rules, breaking ad laws and hiding their game. 😒 Ad game too strong, huh?
They counted a crazy 10,999 gambling shout-outs across the board during those four days, with almost 7k of ’em happening live on Sky Sports and TNT Sports during matches. 📺⚽
But wait for it, fam: less than a quarter (20.6%) of these ads cared to drop a note about gambling harm, and only 18.7% had age warnings. Talk about playing it low-key! 🤫
Dr. Raffaello Rossi, one of the cool cats leading this study, spilled the tea: “Football weekends are like a gambling ad marathon. It’s everywhere, man! Fans are getting hit left, right, and center with gambling ads. We gotta amp up the rules to save our peeps, especially the young guns.”
Then they found almost 2k gambling ads on social media during the Premier League weekend, racking up a mind-blowing 34 million views. Social media’s like the VIP zone for gambling ads, boosting ’em and spreading the word. 📲💥
Rossi dropped a truth bomb: “Self-regulation in the gambling world is a big joke. These guys are all about the cash, not our welfare. We need the government to step up and protect us from this crazy gambling marketing spree.”
But oh snap! The Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) was like, “Nah, you got it all wrong!” They fired back, saying the research was off the mark and dropping some stats of their own. 🎯
Dr. Jamie Wheaton from Bristol’s gambling harms hub was like, “Yeah, we see your point, but we need a real rulebook, not just guidelines. Let’s go big and ban these ads everywhere, just like our cool international pals are doing!”
Keep it real, guys. Let’s keep the game fair and square! 👊💯
NOTE: “Yo, peeps!” is a stylistic choice to capture an informal tone.
