Ugh, I just saw a troubling commercial

candyman718 · #1 03-10-2007, 10:15 PM

Watching the Knick game on MSG Network. The commercial is for some helpline for problem gambling.

1st scene: Mom interrupts a 13(?) year old playing online poker, kid says it's no big deal.

2nd scene: Kid is now 14 and playing live with friends.

3rd scene: Kid is now a stressed out 17 year old who angrilly tells his dad "Don't worry, I'm winning I'll pay you back"

Flash back to 1st scene with the message to get your kid help right away.

Obviously I'm against kids playing for any 'real' money till they're 18, but this commercial does not put poker in a good light.

nineinchal · #2 03-10-2007, 10:20 PM

Yeah, I beat about fifty or sixty of those kids this week.

meleader2 · #3 03-10-2007, 11:35 PM

3rd scene: Kid is now a stressed out 17 year old who angrilly tells his dad "Don't worry, I'm winning I'll pay you back"

lol that's 100% of teens in america. [censored] tv.

136913691369 · #4 03-10-2007, 11:41 PM

I saw that commercial about a week ago and to be honest it was a real good commercial which makes online poker look pretty bad.

Usually those "don't do this because we say not to" commercials made by the government (smoking, drunk driving) are pretty comical and usually make the viewer want to do the very thing that they say not to, but this one was actually well made. Crap.

LuckyTxGuy · #5 03-11-2007, 12:45 AM

I haven't seen it but....honestly, it might not display poker in a good light but it's a real and good message. Underage gambling is not something that we want in our "sport". The only thing that I think would be better is if (online poker was legal and regulated in the US) and the PPA was paying for the ads.

No different than underage drinking public service ads being shown on tv and paid for by the big beer manufacturers.

Underage gambling/online poker is one of my pet peeves and something I wish wasn't as widespread. I've lurked on some other poker forums that were absolutely filled with kids 12-17 begging for money and transfers. They had all kinds of wild stories to go with their panhandling/begging pleas.

candyman718 · #6 03-11-2007, 01:05 AM

I agree with the comparison to underage drinking. Except that adult drinking is not under attack right now in the same way that adult online gambling is. A ban on drinking has been tried once and failed miserably. The do-gooders moved on to other things.The constituency of those that want to protect children at ANY cost to adult's freedoms is huge. It represents a majority of Both parties. The message, while true, hurts our cause unfortunately.

Sk00l4m3nts · #7 03-11-2007, 01:12 AM

I saw this commercial as well. Not a good sign.

jively · #8 03-11-2007, 11:47 AM

Who paid for the commercial?

I'd like to see a similar commercial showing people wasting a large portion of their money on lottery tickets, year after year for their whole life. Maybe a side-by-side with another family that saved and invested and then are able to enjoy retirement...

-Tom

candyman718 · #9 03-11-2007, 12:37 PM

PSA I guess.

How great would iy be if lottery tickets were the subject instead? Good point.

LuckyTxGuy · #10 03-11-2007, 03:37 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Who paid for the commercial?

I'd like to see a similar commercial showing people wasting a large portion of their money on lottery tickets, year after year for their whole life. Maybe a side-by-side with another family that saved and invested and then are able to enjoy retirement...

-Tom

[/ QUOTE ]

Buuuut that's different ya know. The state gets all the lottery ticket sales money. Don't you see the difference? [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

Excellent post.