Bingo Advertising

Drinking and Gambling are similar in the sense that you have to be 18 to do either legally yet many adverts for alcoholic beverages glamorise the intake of alcohol in many ways yet aren't often, if at all called into question.

Take a look at any of the adverts on television for alcoholic beverages don't many insinuate that by drinking their product over someone else's is better for you? Why then is the bingo industry being penalised more often than many others?

The William Hill Bingo TV ad that was banned merely depicts a woman in a rush for her husband to get to work so she can play bingo. This doesn't make me think she is hiding some dirty secret merely that she wishes to have a game of bingo and a chat with the other bingo players without the constant interruptions that a man will bring.

If the hubby in the TV advert is anything like mine it would be "where's this, where's that, can you iron this, where's the remote?" and as a bingo player I want to enjoy the game!

Did the National Lottery get called into question by the ASA for their advert for the scratch card that indicated if you buy a scratch card your dull a dreary existence will move onto a sunny beach? Is the Lottery a form of gambling as well?

The Merriam Webster online dictionary defines the word "gambling" as follows:-

1 a: to play a game for money or property
   b: to bet on an uncertain outcome
2: to stake something on a contingency: take a chance

It maybe that I am taking this personally being involved in the bingo industry but it seems very unjust in my eyes.