Online Casino Ad Criticized by Church
24 October 2005

Victor Chandler, a popular online casino company, has recently released a poster ad campaign that has offended The Methodist Church. The ads, which features comedian Rowland Rivron, are accused of being irresponsible by the church for linking gambling with drinking.

One of the posters, which appeared both in the London Underground and on London Buses, shows Rivron sitting at a bar using a laptop on his lap and holding a drink in his hand. The Caption of the ad reads “See life in a new light”. However, the other poster that was released features Rivron in a barber shop with the laptop in his lap and his fists clenched in triumphant joy.

According to Victor Chandler, the ads for the online casino were meant to show that online gambling can be enjoyed in a variety of places from a laptop computer, and that online gambling doesn’t have to be limited to personal computers. Other posters that are set to be featured around London include Rivron on a bed, boating lake and bus with a laptop.

Victor Chandler went on to say that the ads were not intended to link gambling with drinking, and upholds that there is nothing within the ads that display or encourage unwise gambling or intoxication. Furthermore, the popular online casino group went on to argue that showing someone with an alcohol beverage while gambling is not socially irresponsible, because people are allowed to, and frequently drink and gamble in land-based casinos, pubs, clubs and racetracks.

In the end, The Advertising Standards Authority overlooked the complaint, saying that consumers would not interpret the ads as promoting intoxication or unwise gambling, and would see them for the purpose they were created – that online gambling can be enjoyed in a variety of locations.