PokerStars Criticized for New Advertisement

A new poster campaign was released recently by PokerStars that has now received complaints and even criticism from the Advertising Standards Authority. The ad has received complaint because it supposedly implies that gambling could make someone more confident and courageous.

The poster ad campaign features Daniel Negreanu sitting down holding a hockey stick. The ad says in bold letters “Play mind games” and has the wording “Poker is a sport of courage, conviction and confidence”.

The Advertising Standards Authority had received a complaint that the ad was irresponsible and “exploited the susceptibilities of children” by the wording of “courage, conviction and confidence”. The advertising code states that ads are not to link gambling with sexual success, appeal to young children or young adults as well as imply an improved self-image.

The complaint also stated that the use of the word “sport” could appeal to young people and encourage them to gamble. The Advertising Standards Authority disagreed with the complaints and dismissed them but stated themselves that the reference to “courage, conviction and confidence” joined poker with toughness and resilience and sold the idea that gambling could enhance those qualities.

The Advertising Standards Authority also said that this representation would be found “admirable  ...by a target audience of 21-44 years old men”. “We also considered that the claim implied not only that those qualities were needed in order to play poker, but also that success at poker would therefore enhance those qualities," the ASA concluded. "Because of that we concluded that the ad breached the code."

PokerStars has stated in their defense that the ad was quoting Daniel Negreanu’s opinion on what was required to be successful in poker and that it did not imply a person would gain those qualities by gambling.