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Summary:
- Young people in Denmark are turning to online gambling in an effort to win money playing games of chance
- The new ad campaign adopts a fresh approach to educating young people about the dangers of gambling
- It was developed following a new study which shows 15% of under-18s in Denmark gambled online in 2022
Denmark has launched a new advertising campaign for audiences under 18, aimed at raising awareness of the consequences of gambling.
The latest initiative comes as gambling has increasingly become a “social activity” among youngsters.
The campaign wants to send out the message that what looks like a harmless social activity can have potential negative consequences.
One of the main reasons young people are engaging in online gambling activities is because it easily accessible to them and now legal. Young Danes tend to focus heavily on online games of chance in a bid to test their luck and see if they can win cash prizes.
New Ad Campaign Targets Under-18s
Spearheaded by the country’s gambling authority, Spillemyndigheden, the campaign adopts a new approach to educating young people about the harms associated with gambling. It centers on a fictional character, “The One-Armed Bandit” who lures young people into gambling.
The One-Armed Bandit term is directed at slots which are the most popular online games in licensed Dutch online casinos and also the games that bring in the most money for online casino operators.
The campaign involves a series of short videos and posts on YouTube and Instagram showing how The One-Armed Bandit scams and cheats his way into enticing youngsters to gamble, portraying gambling as a harmless social activity. The ad tackles youth gambling as a serious issue but it contains elements of humor and irony so it can resonate more with younger audiences, said Anders Dolph, director of the Danish gambling authority.
Dolph added the main goal is to enlighten the youth about the dangers of gambling by stimulating their curiosity and getting them engaged without stigmatizing and creating fear.
The new initiative marks the first time that the Danish government has initiated a campaign directly targeting young people under the age of 18. It was developed in light of a recent study by the Danish gambling authority which found that 15% of young people between the ages of 15-17 engaged in online gambling in the past year.
