Celebs promoting gambling

E

ElBurito

Member
Romania's National Audiovisual Council recently banned celebrities from gambling ads across TV, radio, and online, and I think they made the right call.
I read a study that shows that even among gamblers, nearly half feel celebrity endorsements make brands seem less authentic...so why do it?

The bigger issue is kids. When a famous footballer or entertainer promotes a casino, it's not just adults seeing it. Children follow these people everywhere online, they're their idols and it's wrong to make them promote these type of activities. Romania saw that, and acted. Kenya, Brazil, and Argentina did the same in 2025.

The industry will adapt but normalising gambling through celebrity culture was always a bad idea. Gambling shouldn't be promoted to the large public at all imo but that's not my decision to make. At the end of the day, gambling is entertainment, and it should stay that way, for adults who choose it responsibly, not something pushed on everyone through their favourite celebrity.
 
Fully agree. It's always been weird seeing top athletes promote casinos like it's just another energy drink sponsorship. It's not the same thing and regulators are finally catching up.
 
Honestly I get both sides but I think this is a bit of an overreach. Celebrities advertise alcohol, fast food, all kinds of things that can be harmful in excess. Why is gambling being singled out? At least gambling operators are required to include responsible gambling messages. A McDonald's ad doesn't tell you to eat responsibly.
 
The kids argument is the one that really gets me. A 12 year old doesn't understand that their favourite footballer is doing a paid ad. They just see someone they look up to endorsing it and that sticks. Glad someone is finally doing something about it.
 
Good point but think about it this way, you can't advertise cigarettes on TV anywhere in Europe and nobody is crying about freedom of speech over that. Gambling is arguably just as addictive and the marketing budgets these operators have are insane. The celebrity angle just amplifies it even further. You don't see Marlboro paying Ronaldo to hold a pack and smile at the camera. That would be considered outrageous. But a casino doing the exact same thing? That was completely normalised until recently. Romania made the right call and honestly it took too long.
 
I don't fully agree with the post. I've been playing for years and a celebrity in an ad has never influenced where I play. I choose based on bonuses licensing game selection. This feels like a knee jerk reaction to a problem that has much more complex roots than just who appears in an ad.
 
Good regulation imo. Gambling is fine for adults who know what they're doing but it should never be glamourised through someone's idol.
 
From a pure business standpoint it doesn't even make sense. Nearly half of gamblers find celebrity endorsements less authentic according to that study. So operators are spending millions on deals that actively put off a chunk of their own audience. The regulation almost did them a favour.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top