Inappropriate Poker Ads

June 15, 2009

There has been some talk over the new Red Cherry Poker ads that they have been running to promote their poker site. Red Cherry is an adult site that puts poker and adult entertainment in the same place – and is truly considered an adult only site. And although poker and gambling are known for pushing the envelope as far as what they can get away with in advertising, there are limits to what the industry will accept.

The poker site was previously known as Swank Poker, and they have been running ads in adult magazines that blatantly link poker with sex. The ads promise “hot action” to their poker players, and some of them show a well endowed woman holding her breasts saying “Will you hold this pair for me?” There are other ads that go even further to try and link poker playing and sex, and the advertising and gambling association has deemed the ads inappropriate and unsuitable for publishing.

The RGA, or Remote Gambling Association and the Advertising Standards Authority, or ASA have said that the ads must stop. The RGA said that linking poker to seduction and sexual success is not socially responsible. The ASA said that they agree with the linking poker playing to sexual success is enough for the ads to be removed, although they did not agree with the RGA on the social responsibility aspect of their complaint.

The ASA said that because they only ran the ads in adult magazines, they were targeting the appropriate market and therefore could not agree.