Farewell to the Advertisement?
The legislators are actively working on the advertisement issues. The debates on the limitation for the beer commercials are still circling around but the deputies are looking at the gaming facilities ads. The article should have started with the common saying “we wanted it to be better but it turned out the way it always does.”
The gaming facilities had a short happy period because the advertisement tax was supposed to be dropped starting 01.01.05. However, those 5% saved which could go for additional advertising, are nearly nowhere to spend as the advertising of gaming facilities is going to be forbidden starting from the beginning of the new year.
In the beginning of the summer the Duma deputies had proposed the legislation draft that was going to limit the gaming and betting facilities advertisement as well as set the fines for breaking the regulation.
The draft is going to result in amending to the federal legislation “On Advertisement” (that had been passed on July, 18 1995) and the Code of the Administrative Conduct. It was not the first attempt of the deputies to change the sixteenth clause of the advertisement legislation. Now the advertising of the gaming facilities is allowed only on TV and radio and only from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. It is only allowed to place advertising of the casino inside of the casino and the adjacent facilities, like hotels and restaurants. For example, the casino inside of the movie theater is allowed to advertise inside of that movie theater, casino and the restaurant but it is not allowed to advertise in the grocery store. Than, the ads are only allowed in advertising-only publications and some magazines issued particularly for the people involved in gaming. The other means of advertisement are prohibited.
Besides, there are some particular guidelines that the ads of casinos and gaming halls should follow. Sometimes the ad or commercial creates the illusion that the win is guaranteed or the probability of the win is very high. The legislators are going to prohibit this kind of advertisement. It is not allowed to create illusion that gambling is going to bring a player success, wealth, and portray people who do not gamble in a negative way.
In addition to that if all the amendments are going to be passed the casinos are not going to be allowed to use people looking younger than 35 years of old in their ads. Placing ads in the media devoted to the minor is going to be prohibited as well.
The legislators propose amendment of the clause on the fines and penalties for breaking the regulation. The fines for a company are going to vary from 300000 rubles to 500000 rubles, the fines for a employee of the company are varying from 10000 rubles to 20000 rubles, the fines for a private party is 2000-2500 rubles.
This amendment are going to put serious strains on the advertising of gaming, it is going to have the same consideration as alcohol and tobacco products advertising. However, the legislators say that this amendments are necessary as the gaming business has become one of the main objects of advertising lately. The streets are crowded with billboards, posters, etc., downtowns look like one big casino. Gaming halls and betting halls are invading towns pushing out the stores and services. The noise and the lights of the ads are catching people by the subway and bus stations.
The legislation will have to be worked on, some experts have noted.
Yevgeniy Kovtun, said:
The advertising of gaming in its present state is not really effective way to market casinos (maybe with the exception of the casino tournaments postings). As a rule people do not flock to the gaming hall after they see the commercial showing how many slots this or that company operates around the country. Currently casinos advertise just to put their name out their not to attract people. It was necessary to limit (or prohibit) advertisement of gambling and betting. Everybody talked about for a long time – legislators, association’s representatives, even the people involved in the gaming business. The amendments, the way they look now, should not alarm anybody. Firstly, it is not clear why the TV and radio commercials are just limited but not banned at all. If the gaming advertising misleads people, the time limitation (after 10 p.m.) is not going to solve anything. And who does not watch TV after 10 p.m.? Maybe just really small kids.
Secondly, the gaming facilities are allowed to place advertisements just inside of themselves. What kind of advertisement is that? It contradicts to the advertisement legislation.
The amendment on the advertisements in publication does not sound right. There are just a couple of magazines devoted solely to gaming and betting. If the advertisements will be limited just to them nobody will even know that gaming in Russia does really exist.
The wording, that the advertisement should not create an illusion that gaming leads to prosperity and wealth, is questionable. The ads of Brazil trip winning by drinking of 100 gallons of some beverage is allowed but advertisement of the winning a trip in a casino is not. Why? If there is something bad in free money there should be equal consideration for all kinds of winnings – beer campaigns or casino tournaments. In my opinion the amendments as they look now do not have much to them.
Polina Lanscaya