How the push to end tobacco advertising in the 1970s could be used to curb gambling ads today

How the push to end tobacco advertising in
the 1970s could be used to curb gambling ads
today

March 6 2023, by Carolyn Holbrook and Thomas Kehoe

Most Australian children aged eight to 16 think gambling is a normal part of
sport. Credit: Shutterstock

If you think you are seeing a lot more gambling ads on television and

1/6

online platforms, you are not imagining it. They are so common that
high-profile AFL players have refused to participate in sponsored
gambling.

Online gambling companies are plowing huge amounts of money into
advertising, and for good reason. The ads work. While fewer people are
gambling overall, online gambling is a booming industry.

There are uncanny parallels between the public health challenges posed
by gambling advertising today and tobacco advertising 50 years ago. In
1970, a tobacco ad ran on Australian television every eight to 14
minutes. These ads portrayed smoking as cool and adult, and often relied
on celebrity endorsements. They worked, driving a new generation of
youth into smoking amid predictions of a dramatic increase in the future
cancer burden.

Like the tobacco industry in earlier decades, online gambling advertising
targets young people. Advertisements that use laconic, blokey humor and
carefully selected celebrities like former American basketball superstar
Shaquille O'Neal and American actor Mark Wahlberg are skilfully
designed to appeal to 18- to 24-year-old men. Young women also
represent a growing customer base.

Worryingly, research has shown children as young as 11 are susceptible
to the marketing and sales tactics of betting agencies, and that 75% of 8-
to16-year-olds think gambling is just a normal or common part of sport.

As with Commonwealth governments in the 1960s when faced with
tobacco advertising, today's politicians have tinkered around the edges of
gambling advertising reform, but shied away from decisive action.

In 2018, the Turnbull government banned gambling ads before 8.30pm
on live sports events. But gambling companies easily circumvent these

2/6

laws. They simply flood the half-time break and post-match coverage
with ads. They have even breached the law.

Streaming services remain completely unregulated, and ads are
ubiquitous on platforms like YouTube, TikTok and Instagram.

Gambling companies, like tobacco companies before them, proclaim
their own efforts at self-regulation by providing embedded warnings that
champion "responsible gambling".

Yet phrases used in their ads, such as "bet responsibly, no matter who
you bet with," have no demonstrable effect on dangerous gambling
behaviors. Punters simply ignore warnings against excessive or problem
gambling. They buy into the responsible gambling trope and believe they
have control.

As with the link between smoking and lung cancer, the harms associated
with gambling are well established. Apart from the massive financial
losses—an estimated $25 billion in 2018–19—there are cascading
physical and mental health impacts. These include suicide, incapacity to
work or study, damage to close relationships and, in some cases, a resort
to criminal behavior.

In 1970, a large majority of the Australian public (74%) disliked
cigarette ads and wanted them banned. The figure is similar for
gambling advertising today. In a 2022 survey, 71% agreed these ads
should be banned.

In the face of such a compelling case for action, why won't governments
act? Back in the 1970s, the tobacco industry and the television and radio
stations on which they advertised (to the tune of $125 million a year in
today's money) were powerful lobby groups that reached into the heart
of government.

3/6

While health experts and organizations like the Anti-Cancer Council of
Victoria (now Cancer Council of Victoria) advocated for reform,
tobacco growers, cigarette companies, the media and those politicians
beholden to these interests pushed back.

In a familiar pattern, the online gambling industry exerts its influence
increasingly in the political arena. Sportsbet, for example, donated
$313,424 to political parties in 2022, spreading its contributions between
the Coalition and the ALP.

It donated $19,000 in 2022 to the election campaign of the now
Communications Minister Michelle Rowland, whose portfolio includes
advertising regulation. Given that gambling companies provide a
significant and expanding source of revenue for both conventional and
new media companies, they form a powerful coalition of self-interest.

So, how did the anti-tobacco lobby burst through a similar impasse 50
years ago? And can we transfer these lessons to the present?

The Victorian Anti-Cancer Council, then led by Dr. Nigel Gray, and
other cancer control bodies led a sustained program of non-partisan,
evidence-based advocacy to government about the health effects of
smoking, and the links between advertising and youth smoking uptake.

But the act that finally embarrassed the government into action was a
series of 26 anti-tobacco ads starring celebrity actors Warren Mitchell
and Miriam Karlin from the UK and Australian Fred Parslow.
Conceived by Gray, his director of public education, David Hill, and
advertising creative John Bevins, the ads lampooned tobacco advertising
with satire.

For instance, they contrasted the illusion of the international jet-setting
lifestyle portrayed in the adverts with the realities of lung cancer and

4/6

repulsive coughing. An important feature of the campaign was the
inclusion of one "straight" educational advertisement on the dangers of
smoking and the effect of tobacco ads on youth by the first Australian of
the Year, esteemed Nobel Prize-winning scientist Sir Frank McFarlane
Burnet.

The television channels played into Gray's plan by refusing to air the
Anti-Cancer Council ads. The print media picked up the story of Burnet
being denied a chance to speak to the public. The Coalition government
was criticized for failing to intervene despite public support for limiting
or banning tobacco advertising, and the evidence from Denmark, the US
and the UK, presented by Gray, showing that banning tobacco
advertising reduced youth smoking.

Embarrassed, the government forced the TV stations to air the anti-
tobacco ads in July 1971, creating even more media scrutiny. The public
attention brought by this debacle finally pressured the McMahon
government into introducing some limits on tobacco advertising.

When Gough Whitlam won the 1972 election, Labor legislated a phased
ban on tobacco advertising. Despite internal debate within the Liberal
Party, the subsequent Fraser government maintained it and implemented
a total ban on tobacco advertising on television and radio by 1977—a
major win for tobacco control and public health.

The media environment has clearly changed markedly since the 1970s.
But the success of the highly creative 1971 anti-tobacco campaign offers
some inspiration for taking on gambling, which is among the major
public health issues of our time.

Gray recognized that merely providing honest information about
smoking was not enough. The tobacco control effort had to galvanize
public dissatisfaction and motivate media action through evidence-

5/6

driven, high-profile advocacy. A similar approach could be a way of
                                   forcing government to take action against the powerful interest groups
                                   supporting pervasive gambling advertising today.

                                   This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative
                                   Commons license. Read the original article.

                                   Provided by The Conversation

                                   Citation: How the push to end tobacco advertising in the 1970s could be used to curb gambling
                                   ads today (2023, March 6) retrieved 25 July 2023 from https://phys.org/news/2023-03-tobacco-
                                   advertising-1970s-curb-gambling.html

                                   This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private
                                   study or research, no part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is
                                   provided for information purposes only.

                                   6/6

Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)