Complaint against ‘gender biased’ anti-pokies ad thrown out by ad watchdog
An ad that warns of the consequences of problem gambling, ending with the line ‘Her mum is feeding the pokies’, has had a complaint made against it dismissed by the advertising watchdog.
The ad was accused of being gender biased, because it portrayed only the mother as the problem gambler, ignoring the man’s role in the problem.
The complaint read: “Where is her father? Does the father have no responsibility in raising a child or is the father also feeding the pokies? The ad makes it out that it is the mother’s responsibility: the ad should say HER PARENTS ARE FEEDING THE POKIES.”
Says everything about the complaints process. A feast for nutters who are “angry”… about something that they can’t define.
Is it just the same serial complainant that keeps the watchdog busy?
“The complainant was unaware that the ad was part of a series, each showing a different family situation, and that this ad portrayed a single parent household.”
Translation: The complainant was an idiot who needs to understand the context of the ad(s) before having a whinge about it.
the complainant was probably someone involved in the anti-anti pokies campaign
There are some very very sensitive female audience out there
Here’s today’s dismissed complaint, thank goodness common sense prevailed. As a marketer and a recently resigned Board member of a licensed NSW Club, it makes sense of course to fish where they’re biting. I am aware that the biggest single segment of problem gamblers in many clubs in my experience is women from low socio-economic circumstances – often single parent families. This may be profitable for clubs, but it is disturbing for the impact it has on the families, particularly children. Therefore, we should applaud the advertiser for correctly targeting an appropriate segment. Addressing the causes of problem gambling might be a bigger challenge thgouh.