Gambling advertisements

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 S92
(@s92)
Posts: 7
Topic starter
 

So I am over 2 weeks GF! Which I’m super proud of a focusing my attention and distracting myself with other thing...positive things. 

However scrolling through fb I saw an advertisement for a gambling site, so I “hid it” I then another, so reported it. I logged out and logged back in - saw another 2 and reported them all. Seen another 3 since! This is ridiculous & P****d me off tbh! When I clicked “why am I seeing this ad” it stated that the site was targeting people 25-65 in the UK. You’d think after I hid the first ad and reported another I wouldn’t see another 5+! It’s absolutely disgusting! Especially when people are putting things in place to prevent seeing things like this which reminds them of their problem. 

Anyone else encountered this? Luckily it’s annoyed me more than tempted me! 

 
Posted : 17th September 2019 9:18 pm
Joydivider
(@joydivider)
Posts: 2156
 

Yes its absolutely disgusting. The words should be criminal and fraudulent but its a legal activity so I will be beaten down on that by those who gain from it

I saw one the other day simply stating a jackpot for a £1 stake. I couldnt even see a might be you on there never mind the real odds. The real odds being thousands to one and much more. The real odds being it creates addicts throwing their money away over a lifetime

Nobody shows an advert with a disheveled man stumbling around a flat in the pitch black with no food in the cupboards.

Nobody shows an advert with suicidal thoughts on a train platform...Blunt?...thats the reality of gambling and the addiction it quickly creates.

Other substance advertising is banned for good reason. Its more than a national scandal that gambling is deregulated and heavily advertised

Best wishes to everyone on the forum

This post was modified 5 years ago 2 times by Joydivider
 
Posted : 18th September 2019 5:12 am
Muststop123
(@muststop123)
Posts: 506
 

During my recent relapse I started getting lots of gambling related adverts on my facebook feed - same with anything, all based on algorithms so if you look at garden furniture websites you end up with adverts relating to garden furniture, if you go on casino sites, you get gambling adverts. 

I went through each one and reported them as offensive and they pretty quickly disappeared for the most. Still get the very occasional one as I guess the software/algorithms they use to chose which adverts they target me with are not perfect but I can live with that. I just continue to mark them as offensive and hope gradually they will disappear.   

Funnily enough the adverts do not actually bother me in the same way they used to - I used to get quite angry/upset but now it is more I do not want any association with these businesses. I know it is just computer generated targeted adverting and if I had not spent all that time on gambling sites they would not have bombarded me with advertising. It is not personal for them, it is just an immoral industry who sees an opportunity to wreck yet another individuals life before moving onto the next victim. 

 

 
Posted : 18th September 2019 7:40 am
Xenedra
(@xenedra)
Posts: 181
 
Posted by: Joydivider

Yes its absolutely disgusting. The words should be criminal and fraudulent but its a legal activity so I will be beaten down on that by those who gain from it

I saw one the other day simply stating a jackpot for a £1 stake. I couldnt even see a might be you on there never mind the real odds. The real odds being thousands to one and much more. The real odds being it creates addicts throwing their money away over a lifetime

Nobody shows an advert with a disheveled man stumbling around a flat in the pitch black with no food in the cupboards.

Nobody shows an advert with suicidal thoughts on a train platform...Blunt?...thats the reality of gambling and the addiction it quickly creates.

Other substance advertising is banned for good reason. Its more than a national scandal that gambling is deregulated and heavily advertised

Best wishes to everyone on the forum

Absolutely! 

Iv been gamble free for a while now, but all of a sudden my Facebook is full of slot site adds (slots were my vice sadly) and it’s really hard to see. I too have reported the ads etc but they continue to show them! I only have about 30 people on my Facebook so my feed doesn’t have a lot on it so I am scrolling through about 10 different adds and it’s very triggering! It’s a good job I have Gamstop! 

I think gambling sites should also have to show the bad side (a bit like cigarette ads)! 

 
Posted : 18th September 2019 8:15 pm
 S92
(@s92)
Posts: 7
Topic starter
 

Thanks so much for your replies. 

Ive even showed my partner because I couldn’t believe it and he was shocked. It makes me feel guilty as I know they advertise what you’ve been on recently, so I felt I had to justify myself and explain that I’d not been on a site since I came clean to them!

so glad it’s not just me! And I agree - it should be like any other addiction and show the bad side too! 

S x 

 
Posted : 18th September 2019 8:21 pm
Joydivider
(@joydivider)
Posts: 2156
 
Posted by: Muststop123

Funnily enough the adverts do not actually bother me in the same way they used to - I used to get quite angry/upset but now it is more I do not want any association with these businesses. I know it is just computer generated targeted adverting and if I had not spent all that time on gambling sites they would not have bombarded me with advertising. It is not personal for them, it is just an immoral industry who sees an opportunity to wreck yet another individuals life before moving onto the next victim. 

 

I always like what you say but I would think it is personal. Someone is making those decisions to target people and put those highly addictive machines out there.

Someone is making them as addictive as humanly possible and someone is giving the green light to misleading advertising which just highlights the good life.

I have to remain calm but have often thought its very personal even though they hide their heads within an "industry"

Thats the problem for me. From the staff in the arcades or bookies to the goverment representative......its a personal attack and the abject misery they are causing is going exponential. They are promoting something harmful and I see no excuse

These people were out to harm me and I cant really see it any other way I dont think there is a defence that I am an acceptable casualty statistic in something thats wholesome and fun for others.

They are creating addicts and they know full well what they are doing. Those machines should never have existed certainly not in a deregulated public environment.

Why I was never protected is a national scandal of monumental proportions and I wont shift from that position.

Best wishes to everyone on the forum

 
Posted : 20th September 2019 9:35 am
Muststop123
(@muststop123)
Posts: 506
 

Hi Joydivider

I agree the disgusting actions of each and every casino and their employees are very personal to each of us. To rationalise that it is all just part of some algorithmic controlled set of actions is really just letting them off the hook for their decisions and behaviours. I think I wrote on another thread about turning down a well paid role working in the tobacco industry on the basis I was not prepared to be involved in the policy of turning to 3rd world countries for expanding new markets. All about being about to look in your children's eyes when you tell them what you do for a living.   

I guess telling myself that it was just some big anonymous computer controlled "thing" that tried to destroy my life is easier to accept than thinking about the individuals involved. I accept there is nothing rational about this but it seems to help me stop getting quite so upset when I think about my own actions. 

Good luck all

Muststop123

 

 
Posted : 23rd September 2019 8:01 am

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