National Lottery thinks Bingo is dead

• Author: Ed
• Filed under: News
• Date: Jul 8,2008

It seems that the national lottery has just "unfairly advertised its opinion of Bingo halls" by implying that the industry is dead according to a national watchdog.

The reason for this is due to their newest Television advert advertising their scratch cards.  This advert shows an elderly disabled woman on a ‘mobility scooter’ beeping her horn as she drives past a now derelict and closed bingo hall.    This add then goes to "erase" the scene and replace it with the film of the old lady driving past a beach scene, advertising their new "Flaming Hot Bingo" scratchcard.

Following complaints from the Bingo association, the Advertising Standards Authority have quite rightfully said that the advert does have a negative impact on bingo halls, and the advert denigrates the Bingo Hall in general.

As a result, the ASA have ruled against the National Lottery and banned the advert from appearing again on TV.  The Camelot group who are behind the national lottery, refuse to apologise about the incident, however they do accept the fact that their Ad has been removed.

Our thoughts on the matter are that the advert may be a hard look at a very real situation, but the truth of the matter is that this does nothing to help the Bingo industry.  Offline bingo does not attract the numbers it used to, but it is still a viable and enjoyable occasion for many people.  Adverts such as this merely serve to stop people that are new to bingo from taking up the activity.

What is your thought on the situation?   Do you agree with Camelot, or the Bingo Association.  Drop us a comment and let us know!