Betfair Has to Change
Target Audience
November 30, 2009
The online poker site Betfair has come under fire for the audience that
they seem to be targeting as of late. There have been complaints about the
advertising that the online poker company has been using, and it would
appear that the government of the United Kingdom agrees with the complaints.
They have ordered the poker site to change tactics immediately.
According to the Sunday Business Post, the ASA has ordered them to only use
people in their poker advertisements that appear to be over the age of 25.
They felt that they were condoning under age gambling with the ads as they
were, and wanted them changed. The latest ad showed a photo of a girl who
appeared to be very young.
The ads were actually of poker professional Annette Obrestad, who just
turned 21. She is a poker champion who many feel has already had a big
influence on the game – but critics said that the ad would encourage young
children to gamble. They wanted the ads removed immediately.
The ASA agreed and told them that they could not use this form of
advertising again. It made no difference to them that Obrestad is a member
of the Poker Pro Team at Betfair, nor that she was one of the best online
multiple table poker players in the world. They wanted someone older looking
on their ads.
They told them that they were to make sure that the people that were
gambling at their poker site were legal, and told them that they did not
want to see the ad again “in its current form.”
