FINAL REPORT

The Commercial Advertising of Gambling in Nova Scotia

Submitted to the Nova Scotia Gaming Corporation



John McMullan, PhD
Delthia Miller, MA




Commercial Advertising and Adolescent Gambling Project
Saint Marys University
Halifax, Nova Scotia



May, 2008


ii

Table of Contents

1. Research Team . .. iii

2. Acknowledgements . iv

3. Executive Summary . .. vi

4. List of Tables ... xi

5. Introduction .... 1

6. Advertising Gambling, Drinking, and Smoking . 9

7. Methodology ... 18

a) The Data Collection Context .. 18
b) Content Analysis .. .. 22
c) Sampling Strategies and Data Limitations . 27
d) Coding the Data ... 31

8. Lottery Advertising .... 35

a) The Print Media .. 40
b) The Radio Format .... 46
c) Communicating by Television .. .. 54
d) The Point of Sale Pitch .... 71

9. Casino Advertising ...... 82

a) The Print Media ... 83
b) The Radio Format ... 90
c) Communicating by Television 96
d) The Point of Sale Pitch ... 102

10. Off-Shore Internet Television Advertising 111

11. Gambling Advertising, Sport Culture, and the Fun Ethic 139

12. Tables 159

13. References . 173


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Research Team



John McMullan, Ph.D., is a professor of sociology at Saint Marys University in Halifax,
Nova Scotia. He is the principal investigator for the Commercial Advertising and
Adolescent Gambling Research Project. Professor McMullan is the author of seven
books, five government reports, and over fifty academic articles. His current research
includes gambling, law and crime, cybercrime and on-line gambling, gambling and the
media, and gambling and public policy. He is a commissioner of the Law Reform
Commission of Nova Scotia.

Delthia Miller is the project manager and research assistant for the Commercial
Advertising and Adolescent Gambling Research Project. She received both her B.A. and
M.A. in Criminology from Saint Marys University, and has conducted several content
analyses, media studies and literature reviews; the most recent relating to media
generated fear of crime, and First Nations peacekeeping and casino security.

David Perrier, Ph.D., is a professor of sociology at Saint Marys University, Nova Scotia.
He is a research consultant with the Commercial Advertising and Adolescent Gambling
Research Project. Dr. Perriers current research focuses on illegality and law
enforcement in the gambling industry. In addition, he has published extensively in the
area of policing and society.

Aunshul Rege received a B.Sc. in Computer Science from the University of British
Columbia and a B.A. (Hons) in Criminology from Saint Marys University. She is a
graduate student at Saint Marys University, and is completing work on a thesis about
criminal organization, criminal techniques and on-line gambling to be defended in the
summer of 2008.


iv

Acknowledgements


Many people influenced this report. We thank them for their interest and input,
but we limit ourselves to naming those institutions and people who directly affected the
project and the manuscript. The Atlantic Lottery Corporation and Casino Nova Scotia
provided resources and time in helping with the arduous task of collecting the data. The
Nova Scotia Gaming Corporation was the funder for this project. From the very
beginning they, along with Saint Marys University, believed in its importance and saw
to it that the unrestricted nature of the research was respected. Without their collective
assistance this project would not have happened and this report would not have been
written. Needless to say, the analysis, conclusions and errors are solely the responsibility
of the research team and in no way reflect the views of any of the above mentioned
parties, some of whom no doubt will disagree with some of our findings. Finally, what
we know of gambling and advertising we have learned from others; Tracy Schrans and
Per Binde warned us of the perils awaiting while encouraging us to go forward, and
David Perrier read and commented on an earlier draft of the report.



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Advertising can be seen to shape and reflect reality any advertisement might be
apprehended in terms of its dramatic shape, metaphoric content, and social context, as an
example of the cultural order (Sherry, 1987:447).

Advertising is dependent for its effectiveness upon a constant reinvention of itself; it
must maintain its place in the constantly updated circulation of significance of cultural
norms and values (Taylor, 2000:347).

The consumer is never absent from advertising agency strategy. The consumer profile
which they build informs all levels of agency discourse. The agency concept of
consumer experience is supported by a complex social map which details how a
product will be used, how it will fit into, shape and alter the lifestyle of the prospective
consumer (Myers, 1983:217).

Many people noted that gambling advertising seemed to be everywhere. The volume
of messages can serve to promote the idea that gambling is a normal part of life,
regardless of the individual content of the ads (Korn, Hurson, & Reynolds, 2003:36).

Gambling and advertising have a common denominator: fantasies, and to be precise,
fantasies about becoming happy (Binde, 2008:18).

Young adults are sophisticated and ambivalent consumers of advertising (ODonohoe,
1997:21).

Youth culture will no longer be rushing to purchase what is new within todays
technological, multiple supermall society, but instead what is meaningful. In other
words, theyll be looking for products that have soul (Lopiano-Misdom & DeLuca,
1997:14).

People define themselves through the messages they transmit to others through the
goods and practices that they possess and display (Warde, 1994).





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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This report is the first of four studies that make up The Commercial Advertising and
Adolescent Gambling Research Project that is examining the different ways that
commercial gambling advertising affects the knowledge, beliefs, and practices of youth.
This report provides a content analysis of commercial advertising that occurred in the
province of Nova Scotia over a two and a half year period from January 2005 to July
2007. A total of 1,351 print, radio, television and point of sale ads were collected from
the Atlantic Lottery Corporation, Casino Nova Scotia and cable television stations. These
ads were analyzed for content and where available for frequency and exposure.

Perspective and Methods

Advertising is defined as the official art of product promotion and circulation that
relies on ritual, myth and symbols to establish powerful pervasive and long lasting
moods and motivations in people to prompt purchasing and socialize them into a
wider world of consumption.
Our approach emphasizes that one should not divorce advertising from the wider
world of cultural life that sets norms and ideals, and defines culturally significant
events such as sports, wealth, pleasure and entertainment.
A review of the literature from advertising studies on smoking, drinking, and
gambling indicates that messaging has had large impacts on recruiting,
maintaining, intensifying and bonding consumers to these particular products.
With few exceptions many of the studies reviewed did not examine the ads in any
detail or study how they communicated meanings that were associated with
images and events of culture, lifestyle and success.
Our perspective emphasizes the proactive and reactive nature of advertising
suggesting that meaning in messages is constantly negotiated, and advertising is
connected to wider structures of signs, symbols and images which advertisers
appropriate, calibrate and re-circulate as commodities to consumers.
The data collection process posed several limitations including delays in the
supply of data, problems in connecting, coding and interpreting the transferred
data, and incomplete data sets.
Despite these limitations we were able to analyze 920 lottery ads, 367 casino ads,
and 64 cable television ads (mostly poker and jackpot) for content.
Content analysis was used because it analyzes communications in a systematic,
objective, and quantitative manner and because it is particularly well suited to
explore the classic questions of communications research: who says what, to
whom, why, how and with what effect?
We deployed quantitative and qualitative methods to study both the individual
messages and exposure patterns of gambling advertising, and the social contexts
of their production that connotes advertisings wider meanings in what we call the
consumption of pleasure and the pleasure of consumption.
The data was coded for 17 variables including intended audiences, colour
schemes, tonality, language style, and main themes to name several.



vii

Research Findings:

1. Lottery Advertising:

In 2005 and 2006 there were 114,538 lottery ad placements in the Atlantic
Provinces: Radio (N=79,478), television (N=30,928), and print (N=4,132).
In 2005 and 2006 advertising expenditures (media spend) amounted to
$9,657,802: Television ($4,761,394), Print (including outdoor signage and
billboards) ($1,821,793), Radio ($1,464,333), Point of Sale (including other costs,
such as winners travel expenses and promotional materials, decorations and
prizing for employee events, and radio station ticket giveaways) ($1,304,179), and
the Web ($81,973). Media buying fees amounted to $224,130.
Leaving aside the 5,500 point of sale outlets (retailers, mall kiosks, etc.), 130
vendors such as radio stations, television stations, and newspapers carried lottery
announcements in Atlantic Canada.
Over forty-seven thousand (N=47,004) ad placements occurred in Nova Scotia.
Of these, almost thirty thousand (N=29,135) were available to Nova Scotians only
and a further 17,895 were available to either the entire Maritime or National
audiences.
On average, at least 1,958 ads per month, or 65 ads per day, could be viewed on
television, heard on radio or read in newspapers, magazines and flyers and on
billboards in Nova Scotia.
Numerous point of sale ad materials were also presented to Nova Scotian
residents who ventured into the approximately 1,200 lottery retail outlets and 429
licensed establishments where gambling products were sold.
These ads were broadcast repetitively. Many were duplicates in form and content,
except for the jackpot amounts which varied draw to draw, for example, or the
bilingual terminology in the texts, voiceovers or banner lines. After removing
duplicates, we studied 920 lottery ads for content in various print (N=46), radio
(N=22), and television (N=89) formats, and at the point of sale (N=763).
Approximately three out of every four (N=83,895) ad placements were for two
lottery products: Lotto 649 and Super 7.
In an attempt to elicit audience attention, excitement was signified in radio
(100%), television (72%), print (54%) and point of sale (18.7%) ads, followed by
signifiers of amusement found mostly in television (73%), radio (27%) and print
(17%) ads.
A masculine ethos prevailed in the lottery ads: males rather than females made up
the majority of human images and voiceovers.
The people utilized in the lottery ads were most frequently Caucasians between
the ages of 19 and 35.
The theme of winning was present in the majority of all ads placed on radio
(100%), print (95%), point of sale (89%) and television (78%) followed by the
narrative of normalization found on radio (90%), television (62%), print (50%),
and point of sale (12.5%) ads. The presence of other themes such as retreatism,
community benefits and personalization were also found in many ads but differed
in frequency according to medium.


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Of the 920 lottery ads in our sample, 491 (53%) included a responsible gambling
message.


2. Casino Advertising:

We analyzed 367 casino advertisements in various print (N=43), radio (N=58),
and television (N=2) formats, and at the point of sale (N=264).
Advertising expenditures for 2006 were requested but complete figures needed for
the study were not provided by the casino operator.
Motorists could view roadside casino billboard and poster ads placed in major
Nova Scotian thoroughfares every day of the year.
In an attempt to elicit and retain audience interest, excitement was highly signified
in casino radio (100%), television (100%), print (90%), and point of sale (70%)
ads.
A masculine ethos prevailed in the casino ads: males rather than females made up
the majority of human images and voiceovers, and females were overtly
sexualized in 78 (21%) of the ads.
The people utilized in the casino ads were most frequently Caucasians between
the ages of 19 and 35.
Entertainment, more so than playing or winning gambling, was the main focus of
the majority of the casino print (100%), radio (93%), point of sale (65%) and
television (50%) ads. Live performers, fine dining and sports events were featured
in more ads than were gambling symbols such as chips, cards and slot machines.
In addition, the majority of the print ads were placed in the entertainment section
of entertainment-style newspapers.
Of the 367 casino ads in our sample, 252 (68.6%) included a responsible
gambling message.

3. Remote Advertising:

Remote gambling advertisements occurred most frequently on dedicated
gambling programs and sports programs. The majority of these programs were 60
minutes in length and aired between 8 p.m. and 11 p.m.
Forty-four percent of all programs contained a gambling advertisement, averaging
three ads per program.
The majority of ads aired between 8 p.m. and midnight (40%), followed by
midnight to 4 a.m. (24.6%), 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. (18.7%), noon to 4 p.m. (14%), and 4
p.m. to 8 p.m. (1.6%). The median time of day that remote ads aired was 5:55
p.m.
The types of gambling products advertised were Poker (71.9%), Blackjack
(12.5%), Lotteries (6.3%), Sports betting (4.7%), Casino games (3.1%), and
Horse racing (1.6%).
Fifty-three of the 64 ads in our sample (82.8%) promoted on-line gambling.
Of the 19 advertisers, 14, or about three quarters, were on-line gambling
enterprises.


ix

Thirty-nine of the 64 advertisements (60.9%) utilized celebrity gamblers in their
advertising.
The intended audience in the ads was most frequently Caucasian males between
the ages of 19 and 35 who had previous gambling experience.
Amusement and excitement were the most prevalent emotional draws within the
ads.
The ads were most frequently designed in a fast-paced manner and included
music, close-up camera positioning, bright colours, and conversational language
style.
The main message of remote gambling advertising present in 53 percent of the ads
was that gambling was skilled behaviour.
The message that gambling was commonplace, normal activity was signified in
50 percent of the ads.
Messages of potential personal transformation (42.4%) were found in the ads
slightly more frequently than messages that focused on material gain (37.5%).
Just over a quarter (26.6%) of the ads promoted gambling as a retreat from the
everyday world of work and responsibilities.
Of the 64 ads in our sample, only 17 (26.6%) included a responsible gambling
message.

Conclusions:

Gambling advertising is ubiquitous. The sheer volume of these ads contributed to
the promotion of gambling as a normal and routine everyday behaviour, and the
tone, content and themes were designed to do the same. Everyone is doing it, the
ads seemed to exclaim, and the resulting rewards winning, excitement, social
success, personal transformation and happiness came with little risk. By
focusing only on the positive aspects of gambling the bulk of these ads tended to
sustain a narrow impression of gambling outcomes.
Ads were analyzed on their own for specific content, but it is important to recall
that advertising is a cultural communication and many gambling ads were hooked
into pre-existing cultural values, beliefs, and practices that helped shape the tone
and force of their individual messages to consumers.
Almost all commercials did not directly target children or adolescents, but the
content, timing and tone of many of the ads did try to connect to certain preferred
audiences, lifestyle clusters and identity features associated with youthfulness,
and the exposure to repeated high-level advertising likely prepares minors for
gambling before legal age of purchase.
All forms of gambling and especially e-gambling have embedded their advertising
in an emergent sports related referent system in which the sportification of
gambling and the gamblification of sports now co-exist naturally to encourage
consumers to buy the myth of gambling as sport and/or entertainment.
The advertising of gambling was also embedded in a second series of cultural
signs and symbols the fun ethic that has rebranded traditional poker and
blackjack and underpinned aspects of casino and lottery gambling so as to tap into


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the messages of the night-time economy and the attendant fantasies of recreational
consumption to sell gambling.



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List of Tables

Table 1: ALC Advertising by Media Type

Table 2: ALC Print Ads by Region

Table 3: ALC Print Ads by Month

Table 4: ALC Gambling Products In Print Ads

Table 5: ALC Print Ads by Content Themes

Table 6: ALC Radio Advertising by Vendor

Table 7: ALC Radio Ad Aired by Region

Table 8: ALC Radio Ads Aired by Town and City

Table 9: ALC Radio Ads by Month

Table 10: ALC Gambling Products in Radio Ads

Table 11: ALC Radio Ads by Content Themes

Table 12: ALC Television Advertising by Vendor

Table 13: ALC Television Advertising by Region

Table 14: ALC Television Ads by Month

Table 15: ALC Television Ads by Type of Television Program

Table 16: ALC Television Advertising by Product Name

Table 17: ALC Television by Intended Audience Gender

Table 18: ALC Television by Intended Audience Age

Table 19: ALC Television Advertising by Content Themes

Table 20: Casino Print Ads by Newspaper Vendor

Table 21: Casino Outdoor Ads by Number of Days Shown in 2006

Table 22: Casino Newspaper Ad Shown by Theme


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Table 23: Casino Radio Ads by Content Themes

Table 24: Casino Television Ads by Television Channel

Table 25: Casino Television Ads by Type of Program

Table 26: Casino Point of Sale Advertising by Content Themes

Table 27: Off-Shore Television Advertising by Type of Program

Table 28: Off-Shore Television Advertising by Broadcast Channel

Table 29: Off-Shore Ads Aired by Time of Day

Table 30: Off-Shore Television Advertising by Frequency of Advertiser

Table 31: Off-Shore Advertising by Intended Audience

Table 32: Off-Shore Television Ads by Content Themes


Introduction
Gambling is a relatively recent but lucrative consumer growth industry in Canada.
The gross revenue from gambling is now estimated at $15.3 billion with $8.6 billion or
57 percent in profits going directly to provincial governments (Canadian Gaming
Association, 2007: 2). Gambling contributes $2 billion in direct salaried employment for
about 51,000 industry workers. Its revenues are greater than those derived from
spectator sports, drinking places, movies, the performing arts and the sale of books and
magazines combined [$11 billion], and when compared to the hospitality sector,
gambling revenues exceed accommodation and lodging revenues [$14.3 billion] and air
travel revenues [$11.9 billion], are equal to limited service restaurant revenues [$15.4
billion] and are just behind full service restaurant revenues [$17.2 billion]. Gambling
provides an additional $700 million in non-gambling related revenues primarily as food,
beverage and entertainment. It is a highly capital intensive industry; fully $10 billion are
invested in lands and buildings, gaming technologies and non-gambling furniture,
fixtures, and equipment (Canadian Gaming Association, 2007: 3-4).
Gambling products saturate the Canadian landscape. As of 2005, Canadians could
gamble at 87,000 gambling machines (video lottery terminals (VLTs) and slots), 33,000
ticket centers, 60 permanent casinos, 1,700 gambling tables, 250 race tracks and
teletheatres and 25,000 temporary casinos, bingos, raffles and other events (Azmier,
2005:1). There was an average of one electronic gambling machine (EGM) for every 329
adults, one VLT for every 599 adults and one VLT location for every 2,668 adults in the
country (Azmier, 2005; Marshall & Wynne, 2004). But these figures do not consider the
on-line marketplace. While two provincial jurisdictions offer on-line wagering on a


2

restricted number of gambling products, the bulk of the industry is situated off-shore and
now generates about US $15-18 billion with Canadians accounting for between 5-15
percent of the action (Azmier, 2005:1; Christiansen, 2004). About 85 jurisdictions offer
on-line gambling (casino games, sports betting, poker and lotteries) at approximately
2,200 registered sites, most operated by privately held purveyors in lightly regulated
jurisdictions such as Antigua, Costa Rica, Curacao, Belize, the Kahnawake Mohawk
Nation in Canada, the United Kingdom, and Gibraltar to name the important ones
(Stewart, 2006: 2-4). The spread of permitted gambling, of course, has been influenced
by many factors: new legalized, convenient markets and mixes in gambling products;
increased availability of opportunities and outlets to gamble; attractive prizes and pay
outs; new information communication technologies that now permit gambling anytime,
anywhere; and vigorous promotion, marketing and advertising of gambling products.
It is the last of these factors that the present report focuses on, including both state
owned corporate advertising as well as private commercials promoting remote and
electronic gambling. Approximately $943 million or 6% of all gambling revenues in
2005-2006 was spent on advertising, promotion and marketing (Canadian Gaming
Association, 2007). The sales pitches are everywhere. From morning until night one is
bombarded with countless messages. Advertisements jump off the posters and counters
inside retail outlets. They bounce over the radio waves and flash over the internet. Ads
for gambling appear on billboards on highways, city streets, and storefronts. They appear
in magazines and newspapers and are ever present on the electronic visual media. It is
common to hear or see ads enjoining people to take a chance, share the dream, get
in the game, live the thrill, become a millionaire, go all in and even play for


3

Team Canada as a matter of national gambling pride. As Binde (2008:2) observes, the
advertising seems to be everywhere, flooding us from all directions. Many of the ads are
produced and circulated in provincial, regional or national markets, and are subjected to
general industry codes of conduct and/or state regulatory statutes.
Other ads, however, flow freely across national borders, avoiding or evading the
few provincial regulations and voluntary codes placed on gambling advertising by local
state overseers for their own products. Television programming via satellite, cable or
internet sources, for example, introduces gambling in a manner that takes advantage of
the ambiguities in the gaming and betting provisions of the Canadian Criminal Code.
While some governments such as Ontario have pursued restrictive policies in this regard
(Ontario, 2008), many television stations and sponsors have withdrawn dot-com
advertisements that directly promoted real money gambling sites and products and
replaced them with so-called play money websites on the grounds that such offerings
required no consideration to play, since the players court no risk or loss, and therefore
there is no gambling and the Code is not violated (Lipton & Weber, 2006:4). Despite
the legal gerrymandering, these dot-net sites, nevertheless, supply cash accounts, player
incentives and daily diets of ads urging people to practice gambling online to learn, chat
and play with the pros. They offer anticipatory socialization, valued recruitment lists for
real gambling sites, and brand loyalty for their products in an immature but competitive
market.
The spread of both gambling and its advertising, it must be remembered, occurs in
wider cultural and technological contexts. Documentary films, television shows, stage
dramas, charity draws, and reality shows increasingly valorize gambling to their


4

audiences as exciting and glitzy and connect it to dramatic events, famous people and
attractive lifestyles (Griffiths & Wood, 2000). Newspapers and movies, for example,
portray gambling much more frequently now than in the past, and primarily through
images in which fantastic wins, happy endings, and magicianly skills predominate
(Binde, 2007b; Turner, Fritz & Zangeneh, 2007; McMullan & Mullen, 2002). Quizzes
linked to television programs promote gambling over the telephone to boost their ratings
and provide viewers with an interactive consumer experience involving lottery like
formats, virtual wagering and trivia contests (Griffiths, 2007). The new information
technologies and the internet permit continuous gambling tournaments and promotions
and the near future promises spontaneous betting during sporting events such as wagering
on whether someone will score from a penalty shot in Olympic hockey or sink a putt in
local, national, or international golf tournaments. Todays gambling corporations
associate their products with other consumer goods and services such as travel, leisure
and entertainment, and via radio, television and the internet, they promote the proceeds of
gambling with the funding of public education, sports, health services, and social welfare
thus extending the cultural reach and legitimacy of gambling and embedding it further in
the routines of everyday life (Korn, 2007). Mediated forms of knowledge are now key
influences on the awareness and commonplace use and users of gambling. For example, a
recent survey revealed that 56 percent of Nova Scotia youth (15-20) in 2005-2006
learned about gambling via television and 37 percent were educated about it on the
internet (D-Code Inc., 2006:24).
The widespread circulation of both gambling products and culturally attuned uses
and references for and about it indicates that gambling for young people is now as much a


5

rite de passage as drinking, smoking and driving an automobile. As Korn, Hurson &
Reynolds (2003:23) put it gambling is increasingly seen by the young as normal, and
reasonable and fun. Ironically, in a recent study, gambling was not even thought of as
risky, ranking below hitchhiking alone, cheating on a test, dating on the internet,
shoplifting and skipping work. It was regarded more and more as a safe and typical
feature of everyday life, regardless of whether young adults approved of it or not (D-
Code, 2006:11-12). Indeed, parents increasingly model gambling to their children by
teaching them how to gamble, by financing their gambling activities, and by buying
gambling products for them, and young co-workers entering the workforce often play
daily and weekly draws hoping against all odds that they will dance the happy dance of
the next millionaire (Derevensky, 2007; Messerlian, Derevensky & Gupta, 2005).
Yet despite the spread and promotion of gambling in Canada there has been little
comprehensive examination of either the regulatory context of advertising or the content
of commercial advertisements, even though they are controversial subjects leading to
accusations of immorality, deception, and social harm. This absence of research may be
because the topic is relatively new, inherently difficult to research and bereft of reliable
data collected to meet scientific standards, or because the topic is sensitive for state
governments who actively promote gambling through advertising making it seem
attractive and normative for the financial benefit of the public purse even though they
also know it may harm the public good (Binde, 2007a:169; Griffiths, 2005:16). Whatever
the reasons there remains a need to content analyze gambling ads and their claims within
the context of their federal and provincial regulatory frameworks. While we do not study
the Nova Scotia Gaming Control Act, the Criminal Code of Canada, the Broadcast Act or


6

the Canadian Code of Advertising Standards (that is a separate research project), we are
mindful of the fact that the content of advertising we analyzed is guided by the values
espoused in these statutory an/or voluntary codes. So, they form an implicit rather than
explicit background frame of reference to our study.
We define advertising as the official art of product promotion and circulation that
relies on ritual, myth and symbols to establish powerful, pervasive and long lasting
moods and motivations in people to prompt purchasing and socialize them into a wider
society of consumption. In this regard, ads may be direct, shared or indirect depending on
the promotion and marketing tactics and strategies available. We recognize that ad
messages are read, seen or heard at a flash or a stroke and are anticipated by
audiences (we know that sooner or later we will see or hear them in the course of reading
a paper or listening to a radio show) (Chapman & Egger, 1983:168; Myers, 1983:207-
208). Yet we also know that they aim at causing immediate impressions. Like myths they
invoke responses that are swift and subconscious or like puzzles they enjoin reactions
that are linguistically and cognitively challenging. In Patemans (1983:201) words, ads
are not normally boring; people actively enjoy advertisements because they are visually
pleasurable, funny, defiant, and intelligent.
Advertising, moreover, exists along a continuum bound by rhetoric and
propaganda at either poles and employs tactics that are both expressive and programmatic
and range from the mildly persuasive to the nearly coercive. It is a form of
communication that invests goods with meaning on the one hand and integrates these
same products into a culture of buying on the other. Advertising strives to organize
psychosocial processes of thought, emotion, perception, imagination and understanding


7

and order them through stories, ceremonies and symbols into an ethos that both shapes
and reflects basic social realities (Sherry, 1987:443-446; Pateman, 1980:607-609). So no
ad is an island unto itself; every individual advertisement is a ritual enactment that
manifests the larger phenomenon of advertising as a cultural system. The formal
properties of such rituals, as we shall see, include repetition, acting, staging, stylization,
and the affirmation of shared values. At a most basic level ads sell social needs, desires
and statuses back to people: drinking beer makes us more masculine, dieting and
exercising makes us more sexually attractive or using a particular laundry detergent make
us more loved by our family. The content of particular ads is always framed by
knowledge of other signs and symbols that already mean something to us. We often see
ourselves in the mirror of advertising because it is impossible to divorce advertising from
what Goffman (1976) calls the wider world of cultural life that sets norms and ideals,
defines culturally significant events such as sports, fitness and entertainment, and
valorizes social units, social practices, and social values such as the family, education,
honesty and truthfulness. So the simple texts, sounds or images of gambling ads are made
sensible to consumers because they interact and intersect with other forms of cultural
production and consumption in society. Gambling advertising, as we shall see, is
necessarily coloured by knowledge of other cultural texts where desirable moods, values
and situations are located as referent systems the exciting world of travel and holidays,
the rugged masculine world of competitive sports, and the sexually stimulating world of
entertainment to name several.
While some research has unearthed important findings regarding the content of
gambling advertising and promotion (Zangeneh, Griffiths & Parke, 2008; Binde, 2007a;


8

Derevensky et al., 2007; Griffiths, 2005; Korn, Hurson & Reynolds, 2003) much of it has
been speculative, based on small often highly subjective pools of data, and bereft of
exposure profiles. In this study we have tried to address some of these shortcomings and
designed an inquiry that more systematically examines commercial lottery, casino, and
remote gambling advertisements that played to Nova Scotia audiences in 2005 and 2006,
and the first six months of 2007. We examined the social features, design, tone, and
content of 1,351 commercial gambling advertisements over this period, focusing on four
different mediums: print, radio, television, and point of sale. We ask: What is the
frequency of gambling advertising in the region and province? What gambling products
are advertised and with what regularity? What is the pattern of ad placements for
gambling? How are gambling ads designed and with what expected effects? What are the
master messages of gambling ads? What wider images and representations of youth and
consumer culture are gambling ads attuned to? What are the ethical and regulatory
implications of advertising gambling? The report is organized as follows. First, we
review the literature on gambling advertising and compare and contrast these findings
with research on drinking and smoking primarily among adolescents. Second, we provide
an overview of the research project and discuss our methodology. Third, we present our
findings on lottery, casino and remote poker and blackjack advertising. Finally, we
analyze this data in the context of sport culture, youth and the fun ethic.


9

Advertising Gambling, Drinking and Smoking
There is no shortage of research on adolescent gambling (Derevensky, Gupta &
Winters, 2003; Jacobs, 2000; Brown, Killian, & Evans, 2005; Magoon, Gupta &
Derevensky, 2005; Griffiths & Sutherland, 1998; Delfabbro, Lahn & Grabosky, 2006;
Griffiths & Wood, 2000; Felsher, Derevensky & Gupta, 2004; Griffiths, 2000; Hardoon
& Derevensky, 2001; Kaltiala-Heino, Lintonene & Rimpela, 2004) but there is a paucity
of research on advertising and gambling including youth gambling. Few systematic
academic studies of advertising and their claims about gambling have been conducted
(Lee, Lemanski, & Jun, 2008; Binde, 2008; Derevensky et al., 2007; Griffiths, 2005).
The two Canadian research reports on the topic used focus groups. Korn, Hurson &
Reynolds (2003) found that the brevity of the participants comments did not permit
general findings but the study did discover that commercial ads promoted gambling as
exciting, profitable and normal as their main messages. Similarly, Derevensky, Sklar,
Gupta, Messerlian, Laroche, & Mansour (2007) reported that adolescents felt that the
most common messages in the ads were that gambling was easy money, enjoyable, and
part of a worry-free lifestyle. Almost forty percent (38%) reported that they were
influenced by the gambling adverts they viewed or heard. A recent Swedish study also
concluded that gambling ads exaggerated the benefits of gambling while telling nothing
about its drawbacks. There was a one sided focus on winning, fun, and excitement, and
silence about losing money and the risk of losing control of ones gambling in the
commercials (Binde, 2007a: 185).
We do know, moreover, that gambling advertising is ubiquitous (Stinchfield &
Winters, 1998; Derevensky & Gupta, 2001). On the one hand, Ameys (2001) research


10

demonstrated its pervasive reach. Of the 1500 people he surveyed, 89% could remember
seeing or hearing gambling advertising over a year period prior to the survey.
Participation in gambling activities and recall of gambling advertising were linked. Those
who gambled more than average reported seeing more gambling ads than others did
while those who had few or no gambling activities were less likely to report having seen
gambling advertisements (83% compared to 93% of those who had four or more
activities). A Canadian study also found that over 90% of respondents recalled seeing
lottery ads and among them 39% claimed that because of this they were more likely to
purchase lottery tickets (Felsher, Derevensky & Gupta, 2004). Furthermore, the constant
exposure to gambling advertising has been indirectly connected to the onset of disordered
gambling. Of 131 problem subjects interviewed in one American study, 46% reported
that television, radio, and billboard advertisements were triggers for them to gamble
(Grant & Wong Kim, 2001) and of 365 Canadian women gamblers who were concerned
about their gambling but were not in treatment 20% reported that exposure to ads was
very or extremely important in creating urges or temptations to gamble (Boughton &
Brewster, 2002). The preliminary results from a Swedish study also suggest that for one
category of problem gamblers advertising had a manifest impact triggering excessive
play and blocking desistance but for the two other categories of problem gamblers
advertising was not a major cause of their disordered play. Nevertheless problem
gamblers were more likely than non-problem gamblers to recall seeing gambling ads and
to remember gambling emotions, impulses, thoughts, and events connected to advertising
exposure (Binde, 2007a:174-176). On the other hand, a second Swedish study found that
the great majority of non problem and problem gamblers reported little or no advertising


11

impact on their play habits and several other Canadian studies were unable to confirm
that advertising was a trigger to problem gambling (Jonsson et al., as cited in Binde,
2007a: 171-172; Hodgins & el-Guebaly, 2004; Hodgins & Peden, 2005). Studies of
cigarette and alcohol products have documented the third-person effect whereby subjects
rate the influence of ads higher on others than on themselves (Banning, 2001). Youn,
Faber & Shah (2000) found this to be true for gambling advertising. The mean score
reported in their study on impact to self was 2.09 compared to 3.78 for impact on others
and participants were more likely to censor lottery advertisements based on this third
party effect than on perceived harm to self. So the literature suggests that there are no
compelling statistics on the direct impact of gambling ads on the prevalence of problem
gambling. In all likelihood it is one of several impacts including access to play, speed of
play, and machine design characteristics (Binde, 2007a; Griffiths, 2005).
Econometric evidence evinces a similarly divided body of findings about
advertising and gambling sales. On the one hand Zhang (2004:20-26) has discovered that
advertising impacted lottery sales directly in three American states; a 1% increase in ad
spending had an increase in product sales of between 0.1% to 0.24%. On the other hand,
Heiens (1999) and Mizerski, Miller Mizerski & Lam (2004) found no effect from
advertising on either lottery sales or aggregate lottery market size once it had matured.
But there were differences in the effects of advertising on market segments and market
maturity: where there was competition advertising impacted size of market share, where
there was monopolies advertising affected total sales, where there was market maturity ad
impacts were generally low, and where there was market immaturity advertising had its
greatest impacts.


12

There is however, a strong reported relationship between youth gambling and
advertising. As Skinner, Biscope, Murray & Korn (2004:264) put it, societys
representation of gambling has a profound impact on youth, affecting their personal
characteristics, social relationships and early gambling experiences. Indeed Korn,
Hurson, & Reynolds (2003), for example, found that adolescents reported lottery
advertisements as both familiar and engaging, particularly the Pro-Line Series and the
Holiday Gift Paks and Promotions, because advertisers used humour to mobilize their
appeals to youth. Derevensky & Gupta (2001) discovered that commercial
advertisements had a general effect on youth enticing them to purchase lottery tickets, but
not necessarily the ones that were promoted and publicized in advertising campaigns, and
Wood & Griffiths (1998) reported that the views youth held about gambling were
radically changed by high levels of advertising. More specifically a survey of youth
between 10 and 18 years old found that they were acutely aware of gambling ads on
television and billboards and in print media. Two out of five respondents said that this
awareness of advertisements would encourage them to purchase lottery tickets (Felsher,
Derevensky & Gutpa, 2004). Indeed Landman & Petty (2000:313) argued that lottery
advertising often exploited the human capacity for counterfactual thinking: imagining
what might have been or might still be and for comparing factual orders, what is with
what might have been or might still be. People, they insisted, were affected by repeated
advertisements that set in motion fantasies, wishful thinking, false hopes, and regrets.
They concluded: lottery marketing stimulates and exploits counterfactual thinking to get
consumers attention, change their thinking, and arouse their emotions, all in the service


13

of inducing them to do what they perhaps would otherwise not do, that is buy lottery
tickets.
Since there is little empirical research on gambling and advertising, it is useful to
consider some of the more important research studies in similarly related areas namely
alcohol and tobacco. The findings on alcohol and advertising, however, are also
divergent. On the one hand, some economic studies that used expenditures as a proxy
measure for determining advertising success or not, or hypothesized a relationship using
aggregate levels of alcohol consumption, have found limited or no relationships
between advertising and actual consumption patterns (Casswell & Zhang, 1998). On the
other hand, other studies criticized these aggregate based findings insisting that figures
were skewed by the narrow way in which advertising was measured (Saffer & Davis,
2006). The effect on liking, awareness, brand allegiance, intention and expectations were
considered to be more important than behaviors when investigating associations between
persuasive media messages and drinking and smoking decisions. Indeed, the bulk of
research has found that alcohol advertising has had significant influences on the
consumption patterns of young people, and on their increased intentions to drink as adults
(Austin, Chen, & Grube, 2006; Snyder, Milici, Slater, Sun & Strizhakova, 2006; Wyllie,
Zhang & Casswell, 1998; Grube & Wallack, 1994). In particular, Atkin, Hocking &
Block (1984) long ago revealed that exposure to alcohol advertising was significantly
associated with drinking behavior and intentions to consume during adolescent years.
They administered a questionnaire to a sample of 665 teenagers (grades 7 to 12) in four
large American cities. Those young people who said they saw more television and
magazine ads for beer, wine, and liquor either drank more or expected to begin drinking


14

more than those who were not familiar with alcohol advertisements. In fact, their survey
showed that advertising was more strongly related to both beer and liquor drinking than
parental influence, age, sex, church attendance, social status, or viewing alcohol in
entertainment programming. How audiences received advertisements have also been
studied. Using recent data from self-administered questionnaires in group settings in
California (N=253), Chen, Grube, Bersanin, Waiters, & Keefe (2005) found that liking
specific elements featured in beer advertisements contributed significantly to
effectiveness as indicated by purchase intent and product brand promotion. Alcohol ads
that focused on the product itself (i.e. beer quality) were less appealing than those that
promoted the lifestyle of youthful consumers. Similarly, using a sample of 667
adolescents between the ages of 13 and 18, Connolly, Casswell, Zhang & Silva (1994)
found that there was a consistent positive relationship between those males who recalled
alcohol advertisements at age fifteen and their more substantial beer drinking behaviors at
age eighteen, but not for earlier ages or for females.
Tobacco studies have shown similar results with respect to brand, initiation and
awareness. Wakefield, Ruel, Chaloupka, Slater, & Kaufman (2002) designed a cross-
sectional survey and administered it to 3,890 American high school smokers. They found
that Marlboro-specific advertising and promotions influenced teens to choose Marlboro
as the brand to smoke. The odds of a teenager choosing Marlboro was significantly and
positively associated with Marlboro gift promotion, a higher proportion of Marlboro
interior and exterior advertising, and a greater number of tobacco advertisements inside
the store, irrespective of brand. In fact, gift-with-purchase promotions were associated
with a 54% increase in the odds of choosing Marlboro as a usual brand. Using national


15

survey data for 1910-1977 (N=165,876), Pierce & Gilpin (1995) also found that major
cigarette marketing campaigns impacted the initiation of youth smoking in the sex group
targeted. When marketing (before 1920) focused only on males, smoking initiation
occurred in those males under 18. Similarly, initiation in female youth smoking began in
the mid-1920s when they were targeted, and increased again in the 1960s when another
large-scale marketing of womens brands occurred.
The connection between the awareness of tobacco and its use has also been
investigated. Using data from telephone interviews derived from a national random
sample of 1047 American youth ranging from 12 to 17 years of age, Altman, Levine,
Coeytaux, Slade, & Jaffe (1996) found a strong association between an awareness of and
involvement with tobacco promotions and susceptibility to tobacco use or use of tobacco
products. When adolescents were aware of tobacco promotions, the odds of being a user
or being susceptible were two times greater than when they were unaware of tobacco
promotions. This association increased to 3.4 times greater when adolescents were both
aware of tobacco promotions and had friends who owned promotional materials. Rather
alarmingly, Straub, Hills, Thompson, & Moscicki (2003), who studied the effects of pro-
and anti-tobacco advertising on non-smoking adolescents intention to smoke in a cohort
of ninth graders in San Francisco (N=1229), discovered that anti-tobacco advertising was
unable to counteract the effects of pro-tobacco advertising, brand recognition, and
willingness to use tobacco branded products in the same age cohort.
In sum, there is reliable evidence from advertising studies to indicate that
messaging is encouraging smoking, drinking and gambling, especially as reported by
adolescents, although its contribution to problem behavior is uncertain and debatable. A


16

conservative review of the studies mentioned above suggests that advertising for
psychoactive and addictive substances and for gambling products has had at least a
marginal impact on disordered behaviors and a much larger impact on recruiting,
maintaining, intensifying and bonding consumers to particular products. This more
substantial impact is especially important when new games such as instant lottery tickets,
multi-draw Keno, and online poker and blackjack are introduced and when the market is
immature and competitive. Recruitment and retention strategies are likely to pursue brand
and profile advertising associating gambling products with specific attitudes and
lifestyles rather than use primarily informational ads such as the values of the latest
lottery draw or bingo jackpots.
With few exceptions many of these studies mentioned above did not examine the
ads in any detail or study how they communicated meanings that were associated with
images and events of culture, lifestyle and success. They tended to conflate the moments
of advertising production and consumption into one singular force and underplayed the
agency of the consumer in understanding and responding to the marketing process. They
ascribed a particularly dominant role to the producers of commercials, whereby the ads
seemingly duped an unwitting public into consuming products that they did not want or
need. While advertisers certainly use the power of myth making to sell alcohol, tobacco,
gambling and other consumer products, audiences also interact creatively with many of
the commercials they hear or view. The circulation of meaning in consumer culture is a
proactive and a reactive system. Meaning is not always or simply imposed from above by
an all powerful advertiser through an absolute code: rather it is constantly negotiated, and
as we shall see, advertising is connected to wider cultural signs, symbols and images


17

which advertisers appropriate, calibrate and re-circulate as commodities. As Sherry
(1987:442) observes we do unto advertising as advertising does unto us. Thus it is
important to ask different and important questions of advertising: What is achieved by
an ad? Do the ads make use of the cultural capital of their audiences? Do gambling
advertisements connect to broader environment niches of gender, age, ethnicity, and
mobilize contemporary knowledge to initiate and retain positive orientations to gambling,
its consumption and its place in everyday life? Do gambling ads increase the risk of
developing gambling problems through their content such as promoting impulse and
sensation seeking play, fostering irrational thinking, over-exaggerating winning and skill,
and exhorting participation? What are the implications of advertising messages and
placements on adolescent gambling?


18

Methodology
This report is the first stage of a larger research project designed to explore the
different ways that commercial gambling advertising affects the knowledge, beliefs and
practices of youth. This initial report consists of an inventory and analysis of commercial
gambling advertising in the province of Nova Scotia (January 1, 2005 to December 31,
2006) and of remote internet gambling advertising regarding primarily poker and
blackjack (January 1, 2007 to July 2, 2007) over a two and a half year period. Two basic
strategies were deployed to obtain the advertisements. The first which concerns in
province regulated products and venues required the cooperation of the Casino Nova
Scotia (CNS) operator, the Atlantic Lottery Corporation (ALC), and the Nova Scotia
Harness Racing Industry Association (NSHRIA). All of these organizations were invited
to assist in the study so as to obtain a comprehensive inventory. The second strategy
which concerns remote gambling advertisements required the research team to conduct a
systematic survey of television sites only in order to obtain a broad sweep of advertising
coverage for gambling products such as poker play and blackjack, although some ads on
lottery and casino games were also procured.
The Data Collection Context
The evolution of this research project may be understood, in part, through the data
collection process. Because this was neither simple nor straightforward, it is important to
discuss the context and limitations of the project progress at the outset. Our data
collection and analysis was affected by a variety of unforeseen circumstances including
delays in the supply of data, problems in connecting, coding and interpreting the
transferred data, and partial data sets which resulted in numerous inquiries and missed


19

deadlines. To start, some data acquisition was not possible. Advertising for NSHRIA,
for example, was decentered and independently provided by raceway managers. These
managers insisted that the costs of advertising were prohibitive and that their advertising
consisted of small print and radio ads that informed the audiences of race dates and times
and little more. These ads, we were told, were not properly archived, and were therefore
unavailable for research purposes. Similarly bingo advertising was not readily available
to us. No commercial Bingo halls were in operation during our sampling period, and
charity bingos were not included in the data collection process, as we focused on
commercial advertising only. Despite this missing data, the overall goals of the project
have not been affected, although we would have preferred including the NSHRIA ads.
So our data collection concentrated on commercial casino and lottery advertising, as well
as on poker and blackjack promotion, which in any case makes up the bulk of gambling
advertising in the province.
Second, the majority of data arrived in a piecemeal manner and not always
when expected. At the outset of the project (January, 2007) we sent letters of introduction
to gambling organizations, compiled contact information, contacted key people, and met
with industry representatives to discuss the data collection process. Our initial meetings
suggested that collecting the data could be accomplished without too much difficulty and
in a timely manner. This supposition was wrong and the difficulties in data acquisition
proved to be considerable. March and April came and went without any data from the
ALC or CNS. Collecting the information was confounding them and worse still ordering
it into a useable research form was more costly, challenging, time consuming, and
resource depleting then originally imagined. It became clear by May and June, when we


20

obtained only point of sale materials from the ALC and the casino, that we would have to
slowly and carefully piece together commercial advertising around each of the different
advertising venues (radio, print, television, etc.) first without possessing a coherent
picture of the whole of the advertising agenda in the province. We were forced to take
what we could get when we got it, moving hesitantly forward and then gradually
extending our research activities outward to include more coding and analysis as more
data came on stream.
Fortunately we had designed a six month study in December of 2006 to
commence January 1, 2007 to collect and analyze television advertisements relating to
primarily on-line poker and blackjack gambling that was outside the orbit of government
providers. While we waited for lottery and casino data, we focused on coding and
writing up the data that we had direct control over. We eventually received print ads
from the CNS in early July, then some radio and television ads in late July, followed by
more television and radio ads in early September. The ALC in the meantime was still
having major problems assembling their data files for us. They extended the initial
March delivery deadline to May but it was not until mid July that we eventually received
what we thought was the complete data set from them. The data collection process, we
were told, was more arduous than anticipated. Limited in-house record keeping and a
reliance on outside media buying services for assistance meant that much of the ALC
exposure data had to be painstakingly retrieved, collected and organized from the
archives of several private companies before being communicated to the ALC and then
forwarded to us for analysis. This rather complicated and time consuming process
resulted in further communication problems and data delivery delays that were, in turn,


21

exacerbated by personnel changes within the ALC and the CNS. When the data arrived,
usually in dribs and drabs, it was not always complete or comprehensible resulting in
even more phone calls, e-mails and meetings that further delayed the coding and analysis
of the data. The casino data, especially the exposure profiles for all radio ads and some
television ads, could not be retrieved at all. The ALC data on the other hand was much
more complete in regard to exposure but in its initial form this information could not be
tracked to specific ads. It took another three months of discussions and deliberations to
finally resolve this issue and connect most of the ads to the relevant exposure data.
Finally, the prolonged data retrieval and ordering process resulted in a zigzag
approach to data coding and write-ups. Simply put our strategy of comprehensively
studying the data sets in their entirety from the very beginning was replaced with an
unconventional approach that necessitated partial reconstructions of data when it became
available. We felt a little bit like store window designers operating in an open space; at
first the props arrive, than the mannequins, next the furniture and so on until ultimately
the window scape was more or less completed. One source of advertising data led to
another and previous discrete lines of data coding were connected and interconnected so
that by December we were able to sort and code most of what we have come to call the
humpty dumpty of the commercial gambling advertisement assemblage in the province
and start to write a comprehensive report on the topic.
We have little doubt that some experts may call us to order for our rather
iconoclastic approach to data collection. But, we had few options and were not about to
abandon the project despite the frustrations and delays. At the very least this research
study has done one thing that gives us satisfaction. We have recovered to view many


22

things that were unknown or hidden about commercial gambling advertisements and their
exposure profiles in the province, and added something new and valuable to the stock of
contemporary knowledge about this important topic. Of course, advertisers, politicians,
industry officials, communication specialists, media experts, and anti-gambling advocates
know some parts of the story we tell. But even they did not know most or all of what we
have discovered partly because they themselves were not fully aware of the scope and
content of the advertising data and partly because their own internal organizations
provided limited perspectives that emphasized the particular over the general. So we
have put together in the end a series of descriptive and explanatory accounts which are at
some points greater than the sum of all the parts and are in certain respects superior to
participants or stakeholders knowledge because they transcend individual interests and
objectives and invite wider commentary about the reach, form and content of commercial
gambling advertisements and about the role of government in the regulation of such
advertisements.
Content Analysis
This study was designed in part to examine the world of commercial gambling
messaging and its exposure to the public, especially youth. Content analysis was utilized
in the first phase of the research because it is a method of studying and analyzing
communications in a systematic, objective, and quantitative manner for the purpose of
measuring certain message variables (Dominick, 1978:106107). It is particularly well
suited to explore the classic questions of communications research: who says what, to
whom, why, how and with what effect by describing the characteristics of messages
(Maxfield & Babbie 2001:329). Content analysis is a relatively unobtrusive way of


23

analyzing social relations through texts which, when combined with qualitative
techniques, allows for patterns of meaning, tonality, continuity and discontinuity to be
explored and analyzed (Coffey & Atkinson, 1996:62; Manning & Cullum-Swan,
1994:464; Neuman, 2003:313; Riffe & Freitag, 1997). Thus we utilized two ways of
knowing in this study: on the one hand, we were systematic. We counted images, words,
colour schemes, narrative themes and the like the literal sounds, images and texts of
advertisement discourse. On the other hand, we emphasized the cultural context of the
production of advertisements and their signifying capacity for registering and
reregistering manifest and latent messages in commercials (Banks, 2001; Jones, 1996;
Sturken & Cartwright, 2001). As Counihan (1975:36) observes, content analysis is a
partial but necessary precondition for an analysis of how dominant discourses are at
work within the texts, dictating their silences as well as their statements.
While quantitative and qualitative approaches are sometimes thought of as
mutually exclusive, we viewed them as complementary and additive. Certain textual
terms, sounds, or assemblages of images may portray representation that are clear and
obvious to the viewer or listener and which when retold over time, crystallize into
powerful iconographic signs or symbols signifying themes like freedom, hope, fun, or
gain. At the same time, this denotative configuration of advertising may conceal
discursive or visual connotations by marginalizing or reversing them in announced
messages. For example, just as headlines may not accurately situate text-images and
reflect the story content of the news, advertisement images of events, products, or desires
may not be shown or spoken in an isomorphic manner, or may even be uttered or
displayed ironically or subversively. Subtexts in ads may reinforce or contradict master


24

texts or images within ad messages. An examination of connotation reminds us that ad
discourses are positioned within a wider world of institutional practices that promote,
prohibit and deny. Thus the qualitative context that constructs signs and signifies
additional meanings in commercial advertisements must be added to the quantitative
study of their individual messages and demographic exposure distribution. As van Dijk
(1993:254) puts it, the exercise of persuasion is often cognitive; content analysis shows
how managing the minds of others is essentially a function of text and talk.
The presentation of advertisements to viewers and listeners invites the latter to
survey images, captions, sounds, and stories in an exercise where plot structure is
typically short, focused and repeated. Because this study is at the representational level,
it cannot evaluate the viewers or listeners reception of the ads. This task will be
undertaken in later stages of the research project and involve focus group studies and in-
depth interviews with adolescents. Nevertheless, the categories we selected for
quantification presuppose that advertisements produce preferred readings that work
towards the audience, promoting certain responses over others, in effect demarcating the
attention and reaction of the listener or the viewer (Gitlin, 1980). As Reiner (2002:378)
rightly observes, the strength of content analysis lies in the precision of the statistical
manipulation of data, but the categories used necessarily presuppose some theory of
meaning, usually about likely consequences. Senders and receivers of advertisements
not only share assumptions and values; more importantly, they are each equipped with a
consciousness constituted within dominant cultural understandings of social pastimes like
drinking, dressing, eating or gambling. While viewable or audible messages may be
contradictory or have unintended consequences on their audiences, very often the


25

different realities of, for example, the problem gambler or the adolescent delinquent are
typically constituted from a relatively stable field of possible readings and images. Astute
audiences of mass mediated messages can often fill in and retell the story, for
example, of another lottery fraud or another gambling related suicide. In this sense, one
realm of media communication, including advertising, strives to be uncontested.
Narratives, sounds and images appear and are appropriated by viewers and listeners as
transparent descriptions of reality, not as perplexing interpretations. Advertisers are
sometimes especially purposeful in their aims. They often conflate character sources with
sincerity and objectivity; they matter-of-factly state the one as the other and, as we shall
see, they try to persuade audiences that gambling is about winning not losing or that not
making a bet is irrational and not in the long term interest of their viewers or listeners.
Ad messages may also involve contested images and meanings where messages
intended for viewers are ambiguous, artful or resistant to commonly held beliefs. Images
may blur, contradict and reform. Senders and receivers of advertisements also operate
within moving fields of negotiation and conflict. While there are powerful preferences
regarding ad persuasion, success in manufacturing and mobilizing preferred meanings
does not always ensure dominance in the meanings received and constructed by
audiences. Challenges to communication norms and practices do occur and
advertisements may provoke unexpected outcomes that question the value of given
products and promotion campaigns by those for whom they were designed to persuade.
Messages may be under-determined if the appropriate signs to sell the product do not
connect to the targeted groups. They may be misunderstood, unrecognized or rejected.
Similarly messages may be over-determined; even if the signs used have resonance they


26

may be refused by the people they are aimed at because they are seen or heard as
attempts to deceive, manipulate, or control them (Barthes, 1973:127-131). Sending and
receiving media sounds, texts and images is an interactive process in which context, prior
experience and social knowledge can lead to diverse coding of messages including the
representation of paradoxical messages. Contrary to some practitioners of content
analysis, we do not claim that our analysis reveals a final objective structure of meaning
concerning gambling advertisements. Rather, we assume that there is an ongoing
reciprocal relationship between advertisements and audiences: thus our results should be
interpreted as one plausible but comprehensive examination and analysis of gambling
advertisements and their intended effects and distributions. For these reasons we include
qualitative excerpts from relevant advertisements to provide validity and reliability for
our quantitative analysis of both content and exposure profiles.
We followed four general guidelines in analyzing the content of gambling
advertisements. First, we tried to emphasize the independence of content categories in
assigning values. Second we were exhaustive in including as many different types of ads
as possible. Third, coded items were sometimes placed in one category and in these
instances treated as mutually exclusive. In other instances, coded items were combined
into categories for analytical purposes as, for example, in frequency reports. Finally, our
aim was to explore the varieties of gambling commercials and their discursive meanings
and to place them in a critical framework by asking who said what, to whom, why, how
and with what intended effects. We studied gambling messages as both an object of
inquiry the production of persuasion through image framing, sound creation, and story
plots and as the production of knowledge with scholarly significance; in regard to the


27

latter, we offered an alternative account of commercial gambling advertisement not
readily evident or preferred in advertisers accounts of their products and their imagined
impacts and we tried to connect the content of advertising to the volume, location and
timing of its distribution as best the data would allow (Ewick & Silbey, 1995: 202-204).
Sampling Strategies and Data Limitations
As noted earlier, the ALC advertisements were collected by them and eventually
distributed to the research team. We obtained what we believe is a full sample of
advertisements produced by the ALC in 2005 and 2006 which we analyzed for content,
as well as an exposure profile database related to these advertisements. This database
included valuable information about product names, type of advertising mediums,
program spots for television ads, targeted markets and regions, vendors displaying
gambling commercials, and placement dates of the ads. Despite the large amount of
information found in the database, one limitation was an absence of connectivity
between each advertising incident, or exposure profile, and each specific advertisement.
For example, two distinct television ads promoting the game Atlantic 49, Million Dollar
View and Roberts Arm, aired during our sample period. However, because both of
these ads were recorded in the database under the title Atlantic 49, we could not
determine from the database which of them actually aired. To counter this problem we
obtained Gross Rating Points (GRP) and Time Analysis (TA) documents that allowed us
to clarify this connectivity issue. Using the data from these two reports we were able to
link up the general product type with the specific commercials that actually ran. For
example, the database indicated that an Atlantic 49 ad aired in April 2005, and the GRP
report showed the actual ad that aired at that time was Million Dollar View. By moving


28

back and forth from the database to the GRP and TA documents we were able to
painstakingly piece together a detailed picture of the ad placement process. However, the
GRP report had a few shortcomings of its own. When two or more ads ran
simultaneously the same problem found in the original database was replicated. For
example, during August 2005, the GRP report indicated that both Atlantic 49 ads played
at the same time, but we could not identify which one at which time because they were
clustered together in the reporting process. So there were several instances when we
could not identify and track ad exposure to our satisfaction. Nevertheless, this was a
minor limitation in the data collection and management process because simultaneous
runs were neither numerous nor general to all product types; so we are confident that our
analysis reveals a relatively complete and accurate portrayal of the timing and placement
of lottery advertisements and their content. Altogether a total of 920 distinct ALC radio,
television, print and point of sale ads were analyzed in the study.
Casino advertisements for 2006 only were collected by the casino and distributed
to the research team. This included radio, television, print and point of sale materials. A
change in the ownership of the casino occurred midway in 2005, and this, in turn, created
a shortage of available advertising data. The previous casino owner did not transfer
advertising records to the new proprietor upon their departure and the new owner had no
archived materials from the previous operator so we had no reliable data to analyze for
2005. Furthermore the casino data for 2006 was partial due to a lack of systematic
archiving. The casino had to contact all media outlets that they had contracted with to
request past advertising records. Unfortunately, not all media outlets maintained detailed
advertising records either. However, to the best of their knowledge the Casino Nova


29

Scotia believes that our sample is relatively comprehensive and inclusive with only minor
gaps in the 2006 data. Indeed, when data was missing, we were usually able to find
solutions that preserved the integrity of our coding and analysis. For example, we
sampled all casino print ads with the exception of six months of coverage for one
newspaper. We crossed checked the reasons for the missing ads with the casino and
discovered that the ad placement process throughout the entire year was consistent and
steady. Nothing had changed in either the content of the ads or the budgeting or
placement. So, we reasonably concluded that our overall analysis would not be negatively
affected by the minor missing data.
Missing exposure profiles also limited the use of casino data for analytical
purposes. For example, specific details concerning dates and times of air play for all radio
ads were not available to us. However, we were able to obtain a snap-shot of a radio
schedule from 2007 that we discovered was typical of a one-week ad purchase for
2006. This projection of typicality was based on two criteria: a) the overall radio budget
for the two years was the same, and b) the purchasing strategy for radio time did not
change from one year to the other. Thus, we are somewhat confident that the pattern for
2007 data also applied for radio advertising in 2006 although we cannot be completely
certain. Some gaps were also found with the exposure profiles for television data. For
example, none were available from Eastlink television, so the frequency of play for that
station was unknown. Additionally, the exposure profiles for Global television were
limited, because no information was available concerning the specific television
programs in which the gambling advertisements aired. Despite these limitations, a total of
367 distinct ads were analyzed for content and exposure.


30

The ad sources that informed our analysis of non-government based gambling ads
were collected by the research team directly, and drawn from television programming
only. Four hundred and sixty-one programs (509 hours) were recorded from January 1
st
to

July 2
nd
, 2007 resulting in the retrieval of sixty-four distinct television commercials that
were played or replayed 904 times during the 509 hours recorded over the course of the
study. Cable rather than satellite television was chosen to record programs because two-
thirds of all Nova Scotian households own cablevision compared to one-quarter who have
satellite dishes (Statistics Canada, 2006). All of the programs we studied were taped from
television channels broadcast in Nova Scotia, although they were also available on other
regional and national channels.
Our sampling strategy was as follows: First, programs dedicated to gambling
activities were taped daily from 5 p.m. to 8 a.m. from January 1, 2007 to February 28,
2007 when gambling shows were typically shown. These programs were taped because it
was anticipated that they would reveal a large number of gambling commercials and
provide us with early insight about their content. Second, prime time programs were
taped every day from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. from March 1 to April 30, 2007. We chose these
programs because they were shown when the largest and most diverse viewing audiences
were available. Six prime time networks were chosen and rotated on a weekly basis. To
obtain a national balance in the sample, three Canadian and three American channels
were chosen in this order: CBC, NBC, ATV, CBS, GLOBAL, ABC. Finally, sports
programs were taped every day at 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. on weeknights and at 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.
on weekends from May 1 to July 2, 2007. We extended the programming to include an
additional weekend in July to compensate for lost weekend data in the original sampling


31

period caused by a technical recording problem. These sports programs aired on the four
available cable channels entirely dedicated to sports programming in the province (RSE,
TSN, GOLF, SCOR), and were rotated on a weekly basis over the two month period. We
chose these months in order to capture the scope and diversity of televised sporting
events; hockey playoffs, basketball playoffs, and the beginning of the baseball season
ensured a large viewer audience that might be of interest to gambling advertisers. Taken
together, this six month period was chosen for two reasons: a) to generate a large enough
convenience sample from which quantitative and qualitative data could be analyzed, and
b) to do the analysis, write-up the results, and meet the deliverable deadline at the end of
the first year of the study. Thus our six month sample of coverage identified the key
television ads and basic themes that made up a complex, composite advertising discourse
about gambling as it was presented by private gambling companies via television stations
to local viewing audiences.
Coding the Data
Where applicable, each advertisement was named and coded for variables. Some
of the coding decisions arose from repeated viewings by the research team, while others
were based on existing advertising studies (Gulas & Weinberger, 2006; Tellis, 2004;
Agres, Edell & Dubitsky, 1990), or were informed by content analyses of tobacco
(Dejong & Hoffman, 2000) and alcohol studies (Chen, Grube, Bersanin, Waiters &
Keefe, 2005). This led to the identification and coding of the following variables:
1) Intended Audience: consisted of four types of audience: gender, age, race/ethnicity,
and gambling status. Gender included males, females, both males and females and
neither. Males were coded when the overall majority or main characters were male,


32

when images were directed toward male oriented interests, or when the main storyline
focused on males. Females were coded when the overall majority or main characters
were female, when images were directed toward female oriented interests, or when
the main storyline focused on females. Both males and females were coded when the
amount of time in the advertisements and the main spokespersons were equally
divided between males and females. Neither means no males or females appeared in
the advertisements. Age included groups between the ages of 13-18, 19-35, 36-60,
and over 60. Race/ethnicity was coded when the overall majority or main characters
were made up of members of ethnic communities, when images were directed toward
ethnic oriented interests, or when the main storyline focused on, or was inclusive of,
different ethnic categories. Gambling status included people learning to gamble
and/or established gamblers.
2) Word Count: consisted of the number of words spoken within the commercial.
3) Advertiser: indicated the name or source of the advertiser.
4) Voiceover: related to the presence and gender of the voiceover in the ads.
5) Number of Frames: consisted of the number of times camera frames were used per
advertisement.
6) Colour Scheme: indexed bright (vivid, loud), dark (shady, gloomy), contrasting
(bright and dark), and neutral (muted, dull, soft) displays of color within the ads.
7) Camera Position: calibrated long shots (environment), medium shot (character and
environment), and close-up shots (character or objects) in the commercial messages.
8) Pace: indicated slow, fast, and the combination of slow and fast effects based on
camera movements, frames, verbal communications, voiceovers, music and graphics.


33

9) Appeal: indexed amusement (humour, happiness), sympathy (empathy, compassion),
anxiety (unease, apprehension), excitement (anticipation, hope), tranquility (trust,
serenity) and pride (honor, respect) as evinced in the ads.
10) Vocabulary: referred to intellectual specialized words or phrases; conversational
discourses, jargon or cultural references; neutral terms neither specialized, nor
cultural enhanced or embedded; and not applicable referents (no spoken words).
11) Sound: consisted of ambient naturally occurring sounds, electronically enhanced and
manipulated sounds, and music.
12) Products: included on-line poker and blackjack, lotteries, sports betting, scratch cards,
casinos, horse racing, and other.
13) Gender: divided into males or females as represented in the commercials.
14) Ethnicity: catalogued different ethnic categories evident in the ads.
15) Odds of winning: absent or present in the advertisements.
16) Sexualized imagery: referred to eroticized portrayals of men or women, including
acts, gestures, or clothing that accentuated objectification along sexual lines.
17) Theme: referred to master narratives in the gambling advertisement such as skill vs.
luck, normalization, winning, retreatism, personal transformation and community
pride.
In sum, while the data collection context and sampling strategies posed some
limitations in regard to identification, completeness, duration and coding, we were
ultimately able to devise a series of measures that allowed us to retrieve a total sample of
1,351 print, radio, television and point of sale ads that we then analyzed quantitatively
using exposure data and qualitatively using content analysis of messaging. The following


34

three sections of the report discuss our findings on lottery, casino and off-shore internet
gambling across the four mediums of print, radio, television and point of sale advertising.
While this organizational format entails some repetition in the reporting of the findings, it
has the considerable merit of allowing the reader to visit certain findings, say television
advertising for lottery and casino gambling, without having to read through the entire
study. Indeed, the discussions for each type of advertising by different gambling products
were structured to cover the same topics: the social features of the ads, the intended
audiences, the design, appeal and tonality of the adverts, and the important messages
communicated in the ads, thus making cross product and cross-medium comparisons both
interesting to read and easy to access.


35

Lottery Advertising
The gambling industry in Nova Scotia is licensed and regulated by the Alcohol
and Gaming Division of the Department of Environment and Labour, and is managed by
the Nova Scotia Gaming Corporation (NSGC, 2006). The NSGC, enabled by the
provincial Gaming Control Act (GCA), manages and implements the provincial
governments policy decisions about gambling operations, and oversees and manages the
ALC who operate much of the day-to-day business relating to ticket and video lottery
products. The NSGCs mandate is to ensure that the ALC:
Operate in an effective and efficient manner to maximize
revenues for the Province;
Comply with the Criminal Code of Canada, the Gaming Control
Act, and all provincial regulations;
Respond to policy and strategic direction provided by NSGC;
and
Understand the importance of, and help to, implement
responsible gambling and prevention programs in Nova Scotia
(NSGC, 2006).

The ALC was formed in 1976 by the governments of New Brunswick, Nova
Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador, and was charged with
managing the gambling business on behalf of these four Atlantic provinces (ALC, 2007).
As the sole supplier of legal lottery games, the ALC have a virtual monopoly over this
aspect of the gambling industry in Atlantic Canada. Section 127 of the GCA holds the
ALC solely responsible for the promotion of lottery schemes, the sale of tickets, the
distribution of prizes, the selection of winning tickets, prize accounts, and payments of
prizes (Nova Scotia, 2007). As such, the ALC differs from most other government
agencies as it operates under the philosophy of maximizing revenues and stimulating
demand generally utilized in private businesses. The ALCs total revenue for 2006/2007


36

was $1.045 billion. Revenue from traditional (or ticket) lottery products was $612 million
with almost half of it coming from instant tickets. National games, such as Lotto 649,
Super 7 and Millionaire Life, resulted in $193 million in sales. The remainder came from
regional draw games such as Bucko!, TAG, Atlantic 49 and the sports category (ALC,
2006/2007). In Nova Scotia, the net revenue from lotteries was $94.3 million and lotteries
accounted for fourteen percent ($210.7 million) of the $1.52 billion in total wagering in
Nova Scotia (Nova Scotia, 2006/2007; ALC, 2006/2007). Retailers earned $14,463,000
in commission for traditional lottery ticket. As a result, marketing techniques play an
important role in the success of this government agency, and perhaps more so than any
other provincial or interprovincial government body.
Since provincial governments are in a monopoly position as suppliers of legal
gambling, they cannot increase sales by increasing market share, as most businesses do;
so they must rely on enlarging the size of the gambling market itself by increasing either
the player base (more users) or increasing the overall wagering of existing consumers
(more usage) or both. Typically in the lottery field this has been done by introducing new
games, stimulating crossover play, packaging gambling products as attractive consumer
options, encouraging consumption via direct communication methods such as mail-outs
and online web incentives, and targeting specific market segments based on
demographics or psychographics. In addition, state-based gambling operators have
mobilized the principles of product, price, place, and promotion to sell their products
and services (Clotfelter & Cook, 1989:186). Product design has typically been organized
to emphasize the characteristics of play-value, prize structure and play-variety by
attenuating consumers choice and mobilizing suspense and surprise in the character of


37

games, by mixing small, moderate and large prizes to appeal to different consumer tastes
and by offering a diverse array of ever changing products that are simple to comprehend
and consume (new themes, new rules, new prize structures, etc.) and that are packaged
graphically to appeal to a cross section of the gambling public. For example, Playsphere,
the online service for lotto draws and sport betting, was introduced in 2005 to attract new
players. Over and Under, a fixed prize game, was eventually changed to an odds based
game to increase player usage. Atlantic PayDay was created to provide the chance to
dream of an extra $2,000 to spend every 2 weeks for 20 years, and Atlantic 49 was
reconfigured as a regional draw that could be purchased on its own or with Lotto 649
tickets (ALC, 2004-2005:5).
Price, which entails the expected value in a games payout rate as a cost of placing
a wager, varies by type of gambling product and is controlled by provincial legislation
that sets minimum rates of return. With limited room to maneuver on the rate of return,
government gambling operators have typically increased the number of lotteries (i.e.
from Lotto 649 to Super 7), created new daily draws (i.e. Bucko), varied the face value
ticket prices (i.e. from loonies to toonies) for passive lottery games, altered the payout
rates percentages for other products such as VLTs and instant games, and increased and
diversified the expected value of prizes for lotteries and sports betting in order to attract
new consumers, increase the betting values of existing players and stay competitive with
other jurisdictions where gambling occurs such as on the internet. Thus, in 2006 the ALC
not only altered the prize structure to Super 7, allowing larger jackpots to grow faster,
they also introduced proposition wagering to ProLine allowing consumers to bet on game
related matters (i.e. the player with the most pass receptions in a football game) as well as


38

on the game results, created a Superstar Linked Bingo game that connected multiple
bingo halls for a game delivering larger jackpots to customers and added several
interactive games to their online system (ALC, 2005-2006:7-9).
Place, which refers to the convenience of product purchase, relies heavily on
franchising relations with countless retailers and on partnership arrangements with
private sector operators who are contracted to sell lottery products to the public in defined
territorial jurisdictions. On the one hand, the optimal density of vendors to populations
combined with incentive programs, such as commissions for sales of winning tickets,
have been central to the sales effort of lotteries in that they have distributed inventories of
products to the market, ensured immediate payouts for thousands and thousands of small
winners, and limited the amount and scope of bureaucratic record keeping for the
government lottery. On the other hand, convenience of purchase has also been affected
by the states deployment of computer equipment and information technologies
electronic tabs and tags, player activated Lotto terminals, multi-game single platform
electronic gambling machines, ticket to ticket cashless gambling and online wagering, -
and by the strategic display of products in high-traffic areas and in high viewing spaces
such as on major streets and highways, at prominent shopping centers and beside cash
registers or on sales counters at retail outlets (Zangeneh et al., 2008:148; Walker, 1992;
Clotfelter & Cook, 1989).
Finally promotion, which entails personal selling, is of vital importance to state
gambling enterprises, such as lotteries, since it is the exclusive responsibility of retailers
and their staff and is therefore dependent on the zealous cooperation of these agents. Two
general points about gambling promotion; however, should be kept in mind as a context


39

for understanding advertising including lotteries. First, coupon campaigns, free tickets as
prizes or free plays as initiatives to gamble, and discounts on other consumer products for
those who consume gambling products have been deployed for years by gambling
providers to boost demand by creating new users and maintaining existing ones. Second,
translating gambling products into regular cultural events has also been a routine form of
promotion. Lottery draws and winners are often front-page news or prime time television
viewing, with winners photographed or interviewed, usually at the behest of lottery
corporations. Draws are announced with great fervor, anticipating that the greater the
number and size of the prizes, the greater the volume of people who will gamble. By
concentrating on the amount rather than the likelihood of the win, possibilities replace
probabilities, and the purchase of lottery tickets seem very worthwhile to consumers
(Binde, 2008:6). Even small prize draws are emphasized to players because they
reinforce hopeful possibilities, bolster almost winning it big sentiments, and convey
impressions that anyone can win at any time (Zangeneh et al., 2008). Winners are
regularly featured in media events, annual reports, promotional materials, and reviews.
For example, in 2005 the ALC annual report promoted the fact that approximately 57%
of winners shared their wins with family, close friends and community organizations and
programs (ALC, 2004-2005:7). Casino winners have also been routinely publicized on
walls of winners where their photos have been affixed to the games they played and
won (blackjack, poker, slots, etc.) and displayed in casino lobbies or on gambling floors.
Beyond these routine displays, publicity has also included media campaigns to
launch new products, introduce new corporate sponsors, target seasonal purchasing (i.e.
Christmas), filter information on winners, and highlight the social and economic benefits


40

of gambling to media outlets. Some campaigns have featured previous winners
accompanied with party balloons, pulsating music, extravagant visual displays, and
spectacular fireworks. Others are simply informational events reminiscent of press
conferences where reunions of winners are organized to illuminate the merits of winning
or where new products, responsible gambling devices, or social policies are released to
the public in a matter of fact conference manner. In any event, currying favourable
publicity is an effective routine marketing strategy and most sellers employ public
relations experts to ensure as many positive, news stories and free publicity as possible
(Clotfelter & Cook, 1989).
The Print Media
The ALC used the print media as a source for advertising in about 4 percent of
their overall placements (3.6%). The media spend on actual print ads, including outdoor
signage and billboards, amounted to $1,821,793. Of the 114,538 advertisement
placements, four thousand one hundred and thirty two appeared in print formats such as
newspapers, outdoor posters and magazines (Table 1). Thirty-three vendors ran these ads,
which for the most part, consisted of local Atlantic newspapers such as the Truro Daily
News or the Saint John Telegraph Journal. A regional breakdown reveals that 1,634 of
these ads ran in Nova Scotia (39.5%), 1,132 ran in New Brunswick (27.4%), 553 played
in Newfoundland (13%) and 422 appeared in PEI (10.2%). Three-hundred and eighty-
eight (9.4%) of these ads; however, were reported in a Maritimes or National
category, making a provincial breakdown of them impossible (Table 2). While we do not
have the exact dates that these ads were placed, we do have a monthly breakdown. The
frequency per month was as low as 19 and as high as 329 with an average of 172 ads. The


41

low rate of ad placement occurred between June and September 2005, while placements
were much more frequent between October 2005 and June 2006 (Table 3).
Five types of gambling products were advertised in print: Bucko, Lotto 649,
Scratch N Win, Super 7, and Corporate Ads. About 2,000 Super 7 (48.4%) and 1,305
Lotto 649 ads (31.6%) however, accounted for eighty percent of the 4,132 advertisement
placements shown in print (Table 4). After removing duplicates and accounting for
multiple showings, 46 distinct print ads were analyzed for message content. Duplication
occurred when ads were similar to each other. For example, Super 7 and Lotto 649 ads
frequently contained the same content - only the jackpot prizes changed from draw to
draw. Many ads, moreover, had the same message except in a different language. So, if
an ad was produced in both English and French, we recorded it as one distinct ad in the
study.
The print ads were designed with minimalism in mind. Super 7 and Lotto 649 ads,
for example, were almost always informational, telling the audience about upcoming
jackpots and reminding them of their values. Typically a monetary sum, say
$12,000,000, was placed in bold, large black font above or beside the smaller Super 7
or Lotto 649 icon drawing the readers attention to the prize winnings. These same ads
also promoted PlaySphere on-line gambling with the simple phrase: Need a ticket? Just
click it or directed viewers to visit the ALC Corporations website www.alc.ca. The ads
did not incorporate elaborate characters or articulate emotional messages; they simply
encouraged the reader to purchase the weekly product. Bucko print ads were also basic
although framed with a comic strip-like character. They portrayed a close-up of the
Bucko icon, a figure with a male voice resembling a dollar loonie with a painted face


42

attached to a popsicle stick. These ads mobilized cartoon-like figures, and utilized short
simple scripts to promote the game. Scratch N Win print ads were also often constructed
with a straightforward iconography - a bold image of jagged edges left by a scratching
motion. Other ads that promoted different types of games - Bingo, Crossword, Set for
Life, Nascar, Special 8, Christmas for Life, and Vacation for Life - used crisp, catchy
phrases to mobilize purchases. For example, an ad for Vacation for Life reminded the
reader that a scratch card win could Turn Snow into Sand while another for Crossword
asked the reader to consider How do you spell $10,000?
Twenty-nine of the print ads (63%) utilized bright, vivid colours. Scratch N Win
commercials, for example, used contrasting colours to highlight the faces of the scratch
tickets: blue tickets on red backgrounds, orange tickets on black backgrounds and vivid
green and red colours on counter posing backgrounds. Seventeen of the print
advertisements (37%), especially those for Lotto 649 and Super 7, were framed in black
and white. Several ads contained bright and dark colour shades. For example, Bucko
newspaper ads were black and white, but outdoor billboards and posters for the same
product displayed clear, bright green, red and yellow colours to try to attract attention to
the product message.
Two of three (N=31) of the print ads did not incorporate a responsible gambling
message. None of the Bucko ads, for instance, signaled responsible gambling, cautioned
care or provided informed choice messages. The one-third (N=15) of the ads that did
evince a responsible gambling message emphasized the theme: Know your limit. Play
within it. But in contrast to the prominence and central positioning of the product
messages in the ad frame, this adage was in small font at the bottom of the ad. Some


43

corporate ads also informed players to be mindful and gamble responsibly. They
reminded the reader that their provincial partnerships involved prevention and education
programs that helped solve gambling problems. Unfortunately, the placement of
responsible gambling messages in print ads was not consistent. Some product lines
instructed players to be cautious when wagering in one ad, but then excluded it in a
similar ad for the same product. For example, many Super 7 ads were designed similarly
except some contained a responsible gambling message while others did not.
The print ads were designed to elicit certain emotions. Over half of the ads
(N=25) tried to draw out a sense of excitement. Lotto 649 and Super 7 ads relied on the
substantial jackpot amounts to accomplish this. These boldly printed ads were built
around dollar signage - $10,000,000 or $7,000,000, - for example, which completely
overshadowed the rest of the ad. The large black lettering and white background fixed the
focus of the ad on the large jackpots enticing viewers to consider the Wow of the win.
Some Scratch N Win ads also used material non-monetary prizes to enhance the
excitement of play: Win a trip to a Nascar race of your choice or win a car bonus.
Other ads matched catchy phrases with dramatic images and bright colours to add to the
excitement. For example, Bingo ads were designed with bright orange flames that shot up
in spectacular form through the name Sizzling 7 Bingo, and called attention to the
firebrand 10,000 dollar top prizes. Other ads used body language to illustrate the
excitement of gambling. For example, some corporate ads demonstrated the joyous
nature of winning through close-ups of smiling faces, and victorious arms flung
triumphantly in the air. Similarly, the Set for Life ads depicted a carefree, laughing young


44

couple positioned back to back with arms interlocked, and the young man propelling the
woman into the air in celebration. The future, the ad intimates, was upward and forward.
About one in five ads also used humour (N=8) to make gambling more appealing
to viewers. Bucko ads, for example, displayed amusing puns to promote the game. These
texts were placed beside the Bucko icon (comprised of a loonie for a head and a popsicle
stick for a body) and invited the reader to ponder the following: Play me before Im
spent, You could turn one of me into 20,000 of me. Lucky you, More winners than I
can shake my stick at, or Today you could become a multi-thousandaire. Different
facial expressions were drawn on the Bucko character to represent surprise, suspense or
delight to add to the amusement of the ad. The tagline Give a loonie a chance was
included in every ad to evoke amused sympathy for the loonie character, and to remind
the reader to invest in the then forlorn Canadian dollar.
Certain themes prevailed in these print ads. Most frequently, the benefits of
winning, the normalization of the games, and the promotion of community benefits were
mobilized to bolster buying lottery tickets (Table 5). Selling gambling through winning
narratives was present in almost all of the ads (N=44) and displayed overtly by
highlighting the amount of money to be won: $20,000, $7,000,000, or $888,888. The
emphasis was on the jackpot size and it was used to try to entice readers to make a lottery
investment for a lucrative future. Other ads were indirect. Scratch N Win ads placed on
billboards and bus signs, for example, dramatized what winners could do with their
monetary prizes: Scratch N Celebrate, Scratch N Renovate, Scratch N Get a Big
Screen, Scratch N Go Shopping and Scratch N Get Away. They mobilized the
tagline For Everyone Who Likes to Win, coupled with the pictures of the scratch


45

tickets themselves, and assured readers that winning was waiting. Even when jackpots
were not highlighted in the ads, winning was still stressed. The Bucko ads, for example,
incorporated winning messages into their print content enjoining readers to believe that
they could Win on any day ending in y, or enticed them to play by asking them to list
the number of Bucko winners so far. The Christmas for Life ads summed up the sales
pitch well: You could win. Without indicating the exact prize, it said, you did not
need to know the prize!
Fully half of the print ads put gambling into a language that made it seem natural
and common (N=23). Lotto 649 and Super 7 ads, for example, reminded readers that
Friday and Saturday jackpots were ordinary and expected weekly events. Others, like
Bucko ads, stressed gambling as a daily event: Today you could become a multi-
thousandaire, or Play for a buck any day. Yet other ads normalized gambling by
advertising its long legacy as a permitted consumer product to readers: an icon with the
words 30 YEARS was bolded on these ads to remind audiences that lottery gambling
was a long-standing and accepted practice in Atlantic Canada.
Finally, almost forty percent of the ads highlighted the advantages of gambling to
the local community (N=18). The main message of corporate ads, for example, was to
promote the ALC as a good corporate citizen. Newspaper ads sent the message that
gambling was good for the economy and society. In these ads, gambling was narrated in a
Win-Win discourse where individual moments of fun and chances to dream were
combined with collective benefits. Posters promoted images of upgraded schools, paved
roads, installed wind turbines, and funded sports figures (swimmers, bikers, and
gymnasts), signaling gamblings role in funding essential public programs and


46

community services. On Scratch N Win ads the tagline scratch n make it happen
depicted a win win scenario for the player and the community together. The connection
between gambling and community benefits was evinced via the ads colour design and
text: the words Scratch n were located on the left side of the ad and designed in blue
font on a white background, while the words make it happen were located on the right
side of the ad and designed in white font on a blue background. This colour scheme
linked wagering and the chance to win a top prize of $50,000 with support for amateur
sports in Atlantic Canada and for the Commonwealth Games in Halifax in 2014, thus
trying to appeal to new users through new uses for lottery products.
The Radio Format

The dominant medium of advertising for lotteries was the radio. Of the 114,538
advertisements shown or played in 2005 and 2006, 79,478, or almost seventy percent
(69.4%), aired on eighty radio stations (Table 1). The media spend on actual radio ads
amounted to $1,464,333. These radio stations included almost every listening audience
including hard rock, light rock, oldies, country, easy listening, and talk radio (Table 6).
The majority of ads were broadcast in New Brunswick (N=29,035) and Nova Scotia
(N=26,537), followed by Newfoundland (N=14,469) and PEI (N=9,437) (Table 7). Of
the thirty-three towns and cities where the radio ads played, Halifax was the site of
10,909 radio ad airings (13.7%), almost double the volume in any other civic site. St.
Johns, for example, aired 6,003 radio ads followed by 5,617 in Moncton and 5,492 in
Summerside (Table 8). Over four out of five (86.8%) radio ads were 15 seconds in
length, while 13 percent aired for 30 seconds. The average number of ads run on radio


47

per month was 3,311, but the frequency of placements was erratic and ranged from a low
of 294 radio spots in September 2005 to a high of 6,919 spots in April 2006 (Table 9).
Several types of gambling products were advertised on radio including Game
Day, Lotto 649, PayDay and Super 7. The 40,604 Lotto 649 radio ads (51.1%) and
32,088 Super 7 ads (40.4%) accounted for over ninety percent of the total 79,478 radio
advertisement placements (Table 10). At least three advertisements for Scratch N Win
products were produced, but the exposure profiles for these were missing. Not
surprisingly, many of the radio ads were broadcast repetitively and like the print ads,
many were exact duplicates in form and content except for the jackpot amounts which
varied from draw to draw. Altogether we analyzed twenty-two distinct radio ads that
played thousands of times over the two year period from January 2005 to December
2006.
Eighty percent of the ads utilized male voiceovers (N=18) to signal their products
to their listening audiences. These masculine voiceovers were often commanding and
enthusiastic in their persuasion style providing basic information while simultaneously
encouraging wagering. Three of the ads, particularly PayDay commercials, utilized male
and female voiceovers. These voices were used to frame the ad into two distinct parts.
For example, Backbreaking used a female voiceover to narrate the character of the
PayDay product and celebrate recent winners, while a male voiceover directed the
listener to Visit your Atlantic lottery retailer and play Atlantic PayDay every Thursday.
Another ad, Job 1, reversed the gender tasks. It began with a male voiceover that
described the product, and ended with a female voiceover instructing the listener to Play
Atlantic PayDay. In addition to voiceovers, male voices (83%) were utilized much more


48

frequently than females in the radio ads. For example, not one of the ten GameDay ads
incorporated a female voice. The only exceptions to the exclusion of female voices were
three ads for a Super 7 campaign in which listeners could hear a married couple discuss
the benefits of their winnings: properties by the sea, emotional well-being, and just about
any commodity that they could buy with the proceeds of gambling.
Over two-thirds of these 22 radio ads were fast paced. Breathless announcers and
intense music combined to create a sit on the edge of your seat listening environment to
sell gambling products. In the ad Football 4, for example, a sports announcer character
literally screamed in anticipation of a great gambling outcome not unlike scoring a
touchdown in a game: Its a pass! Hes got it! He could go all the way!
However, in just over thirty percent of the ads (N=7) a slow, unhurried pace was
preferred. The Super 7 ads, for example, typically used calming cadences and soft music
to portray the relaxed lifestyle that big lottery wins could provide.
There were on average 80 spoken words per ad. Two-thirds of the ads (N=15)
were conversational in language style. For instance, Super 7 ads utilized casual dialogues
between spouses accentuating words such as Yeah and Like to emphasize the
familiar and commonplace character of lottery play. One-third of the ads (N=7) employed
neutral linguistic tropes especially when the goal was to provide product information
such as announcing new draws or confirming that a particular product such as the new
Hot 7 Series of tickets was eventually available to consumers. All ads featured music in
their messages. For example, in the ad Set for Life the song Hey, big spender was
played after the question If you won Set for Life what would you do? was asked. Other
ads played hard-paced music throughout the commercial, or sometimes only when a


49

jackpot amount was announced in order to focus the listening audiences attention on the
available prizes. Fully half of the ads (N=11) displayed ambient sounds, such as cash
registers and cheering crowds to set happy moods, encourage participation, and signal the
entertainment value of lottery gambling.
Mindful perhaps of the age of its listening audience, a responsible gambling
message was present in forty-five percent (N=10) of the ads. For example, the caveat
Must be legal age of majority was voiced at the end of each GameDay ad. However,
such reminders were unique to GameDay products, as none of the other radio ads
included a responsible gambling message. The odds of winning were never stated in any
of the radio ads; rather phrases such as win the pot and get your ticket today and have
your happy dance ready implied that the odds of winning jackpots was imminent not
remote.
Radio ads also relied on eliciting emotions to sell gambling products. All 22
commercials coded some form of excitement in the verbal discourse primarily by
dramatizing the hope of winning. The voices in the ads were animated, and reinforced the
anticipation of successful lottery gambling: Play Atlantic PayDay every Thursday and
you could win it or A new shot at winning every week were exemplars. Several ads,
as noted, also used the well-known song Hey Big Spender to attract the audience to
gamble; this song would play after questions like If you won Set for Life what would
you do? or as a cue to call for radio contests that promoted Scratch N Win tickets. In
addition, about one in four of the ads (N=6) used humour to try to persuade the listening
audience to gamble. One voiceover in the PayDay ad Backbreaking teased the listener
by ironically portraying lottery winners as over burdened by success: It must be


50

backbreaking picking up all those cheques from the mailbox, the ad wryly reminded the
listeners. Other PayDay ads were playful imitations of typical employment ads. They
lightheartedly required applicants to fill positions for carefree and pleasurable lives free
of daily concerns. Super 7 ads used dry humour to try to excite the imagination of the
listening audience. Indeed, a couple could be heard discussing their thoughts about
becoming millionaires in a rather deadpan discourse: Being a multi-millionaire isnt for
everyone one intoned. Good Point. Its definitely for us though. Oh, yeah, we were
made for it said the other character in the commercial.
Certain themes emerged in these radio ads namely, winning (100%), and the
normalization (90.9%) of gambling (Table 11). All radio ads evinced winning prizes,
money and lottery tickets in their messages. Super 7 ads regularly promoted an
incredible jackpot worth millions of dollars, and ads for Set for Life offered free tickets
to radio callers. Other commercials were less direct, encouraging audiences to imagine
the prize monies to be won. All the GameDay ads, for example, exhorted players to
simply Win the Pot. As with print, the Lotto 649 radio ads dramatized the total sum of
winnings: the next Lotto 649 jackpot is estimated to be 47 million dollars! or 22
million dollars! or 15 million dollars!. Loud music played in the background of these
ads while animated, authoritative voiceovers breathlessly instructed the listeners not to
forget to play! and not to miss the next draw! Typically, the jackpot size was stated
several times in the commercial and the listener was always and repetitively reminded of
the vast amount of wealth just waiting to be won. Gambling on Lotto 649, the listener
was told, was not only an exciting act, it was a potentially life changing event that could
dance the listener forward into a bright new future.


51

Super 7 ads also informed the audience of the incredible jackpots to be won.
These ads were energetic in form and style. Winners shouted in celebration in the
background of the ads, while voiceovers encouraged listeners to dream the dream of
winning in the foreground. They asked listeners to ponder a simple question: What if?
In one Super 7 ad campaign ironic reversal was used to highlight the world of lottery
winning. In these ads, a young couple discussed how their lives were changed since
becoming millionaires. They talked about how weird it was to be able to afford
anything now, as if this was an unfortunate consequence of becoming rich. More
commonly, the radio ads emphasized to listeners that multi-millionaire status was
desirable, acquirable and manageable. Oh yeah, we were made for it (Super 7 jackpot
of 10 million dollars) stated the message in the ad Not for Everyone while another ad,
Honey, educated the listener about the international consequences of lottery successes.
We own a place on the ocean in France, and one on the ocean in Mexico, Peru, oh, and
dont forget Greece. Honey, thats on the sea, stated the ad, while it then reminded the
listener that this Friday the Super 7 jackpot is 10 million dollars!
The Scratch N Win radio ads usually used radio station contests that regularly
offered more free scratch tickets as winning prizes. They emphasized participatory
fantasies. Let your imagination run wild and share your dreams of winning
predominated as messages in these commercials. What would you do? was the
thematic anchor of the ads enjoining listeners to consider new opportunities in life and
imagine dramatic lifestyle changes while the altogether familiar song Hey, big spender
played in the background. For example, the ad Hot 7 One encouraged daily dialogue
between consumers and announcers on air: Call in and tell us the seven things you


52

would do if you won 7,777 dollars with a new Hot 7 series of tickets from Atlantic
Lottery, it exhorted, while a second ad, Set for Life, invited customers to speculate on
what they would do if they won Set for Life: Well start a story and give you fifteen
seconds to finish it, and for playing youll receive five Set for Life tickets. So let us hear
your fantasies on radio! the ads intoned. These radio spots encouraged audiences to
embrace a world beyond their dreams, and drew on the imagination of listeners to conjure
material gains and share them interactively to thousands of other listeners in a collective
phantasmagoria where make believe was transformed into it could be you!
Several radio advertisements promoted winning through GameDay, a sports
betting pool. GameDay Pick em Pool ads relied heavily on ambient sounds, such as
skate blades scraping on ice, and the Hut! Hut! shouted by quarterbacks as they called
their teams to the line of scrimmage. All the ads highlighted roaring crowds, sports
announcers booming out the play-by-play action in the narration, and loud music
normally associated with dramatic sports moments. Organ music, usually heard at hockey
games, was played as a backdrop in several of the ads and it was combined with positive
statements about gambling such as, we have a winner or He shoots, he scores to
connect the thrill of gambling with the excitement of dramatic sports events. Winning
was persistently portrayed with many commercials deploying the words winners, one
win away and winning every week four or five times, and connecting this message to
the possibility of fame: on the road to glory or just one win away from glory. Indeed,
winning teams and players were deployed in the commercials to set emotional moods
similar to the closing seconds of competitive sports encounters. The ads often asked the


53

listeners Can you feel the excitement? and reminded them that lottery sports gambling
was just one more face off, just a touchdown away from winning it all.
Over ninety percent (90.9%) of the radio ads presented gambling as an everyday
activity. Phrases such as take a new shot at winning every week, and get your ticket
today in individual ads along with the constant promotion of lottery draws every
Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, and even daily in some instances, ritualized
it as a consumer event not unlike buying groceries or shopping for clothes. Radio
stations, in partnership with the Lottery Corporation, held contests every weekday
morning where additional gambling opportunities such as Scratch N Win tickets were
the prizes. The ad, Perks, for example, linked lottery products and promotions to a rock
radio station. It advertised a chance to win a dream PayDay of $20,000 in a PayDay
perks contest and further facilitated the legitimization of gambling in the market place.
Every morning were giving away PayDay tickets for a year, the dawn patrol radio
announcers advised, and for your chance to win a dream Pay Day of 20,000 dollars
cash, enter our PayDay perks contest.
Several ads emphasized retreatism (N=4) in their messages. They highlighted
gambling as an alternative to working by associating lottery wins as equivalents to pay
cheques. In the ad Backbreaking the announcer exclaimed Want to win a dream salary?
Visit your Atlantic lottery retailer and play Atlantic PayDay every Thursday, and went
on to ask the question What could you call two thousand dollars every two weeks for
twenty years? A darn good job if you could get it was the answer, as the ad then
directed the listener to the names of recent winners.


54

PayDay ads eschewed the big pots sales pitch and offered dream salaries every
two weeks for twenty years. Some of these radio ads mimicked job ads as a way of
reaching customers. PayDay, the listener was told, required duties and responsibilities
from players such as lifting the weight of the world from ones shoulders, living a
good life, and being willing to throw cares away easily. Successful players must be
willing to enjoy life and get paid and, oh yes, no previous experience needed to be a
winner: these ads signaled sudden reprieves from the everyday world of employment.
Working for a living, the commercials seemed to say, was not an economic inevitability;
consumers could exchange the daily grind for extensive travel, and tax free living,
and go on to live, full-time.
Unlike print and television ads, radio ads did not connect community service or
pride to lottery products, and they rarely personalized their pitches. Lengthy listings of
winners, quaint reminiscences of local customs and geography, and the social benefits of
gambling profits were not incorporated into radio spots. The only exception was the
PayDay commercial Backbreaking. It introduced and congratulated real winners in an
effort to signal to the listening audience that winning was not abstract or unlikely, but real
and close to home.
Communicating by Television

The ALC regularly utilized television in order to advertise their lottery products.
The media spend on actual television ads amounted to $4,761,394. Of the 114,538
advertisements that were printed or played in 2005 and 2006, 30,928 (27%) aired on 18
television stations in the Atlantic Provinces (Table 12). Four of these stations broadcast to
all Atlantic Provinces and accounted for almost sixty percent (N=17,481) of the ads


55

shown. An additional 30 percent of the ads were aired solely in Newfoundland
(N=9,378), 10 percent in New Brunswick (N=3,105) and 3.1 percent in Nova Scotia
(N=964) respectively (Table 13). Two-thirds of the television ads were 30 seconds in
duration; one-quarter were 15 seconds, and less than five percent were 5, 10, or 60
seconds long. The frequency of television ad placement on a monthly basis was fairly
consistent: frequency of placements ranged from a low of 590 television spots in
November 2005 to a high of 1,886 spots in July 2005, averaging 1,288 ads per month
(Table 14). These ads ran on multiple types of television programming; of the 27,031
(87.4%) programs that could be identified, 9,116 ads ran on News Programs (29.5%)
such as CBC News Hour, 3,095 ran on Dramas (10%) such as CSI Miami, 2,843 ran on
Talk Shows (9.2%) such as Dr. Phil, 2,808 ran on Soap Operas (9.1%) such as General
Hospital, 2,341 ran on Movies (7.6%) such as Miracle on 34
th
Street, 2,211 ran on
Comedies (7.1%) such as Friends, 1,206 ran on Game Shows (3.9%) such as Jeopardy,
974 ran on Entertainment Shows (3.1%) such as Inside Edition, 848 ran on Sports Events
Shows (2.7%) such as CFL Grey Cup, 706 ran on Lifestyle/Human Interest programs
(2.3%) such as Antiques Roadshow, and 540 ran on Reality Television (1.7%) such as
Dragons Den (Table 15).
In 2005 and 2006, eight types of lottery products were advertised on television:
Atlantic 49, Bucko, Game Day, Lotto 649, PayDay, Scratch N Win, Super 7, and
corporate ads that promoted the lottery corporation as a business partner in community
development. Of the 30,928 television ads played, 7,864 were for Scratch N Win tickets
(25.4%), 5,073 were for PayDay (16.4%), 4,106 were for Bucko (13.3%), 4,118 were for
Lotto 649 (13.3%), 3,781 were for Super 7 (12.2%), 3,437 were for Corporate promotions


56

(11.1%), 1,506 were for Atlantic 49 (4.9%), and 1,043 were for GameDay (3.4%) (Table
16). After removing duplicates and accounting for repetitive showings, we were able to
identify and analyze eighty-nine distinct television ads that aired in 2005 and 2006.
Males (N=141) appeared as characters in the ads more frequently than females
(N=99), and neither gender was portrayed in an overtly sexualized manner. Males were
the intended audience in 37 of the ads when compared to 20 for females and a further 20
for both males and females combined (Table 17). Interestingly, 50 of the ads had no
voiceovers, but those that did deploy them used males (N=31) almost four times more
than females (N=8). Of the eight advertised lottery products, female voiceovers were
used in PayDay and Scratch N Win ads only. In thirteen percent (N=12) of the ads, no
gender was specified in the message representation. These ads relied entirely on dramatic
effects such as exploding fireworks, images of seasonal events like Christmas, and
sounds of festive music. Almost 70 percent (67.4%) of the characters in the ads appeared
to be between the ages 19 and 35, with thirteen percent (12.4%) of the ads not portraying
age specific signs at all (Table 18). The overwhelming majority of people that appeared
in the sales pitches were Caucasians (92.9%): of the 240 people that were in plain view in
the ads, only 17 were visible minorities. Almost all the television ads were not directed
at, or did not differentiate between established or novice gamblers (95.5%). Only four
Scratch N Win ads (4.5%) portrayed people with past gambling experiences. As an
elderly lady in one ad, Halliwell, stated: I really enjoy doing crosswords and bingos. Im
always hoping Ill hit the big one. In another ad, Tynes, a man calls himself the
Scratch N Win guy, implying previous play, while in a third commercial, Leblanc, a
male character tells the audience how much money he has won in the past by playing


57

bingo and crossword scratch tickets: Sometimes I won a hundred, sometimes I won 50
dollars he intones to the viewer.
The majority of camera frames, on average eight per ad, incorporated medium
(74.2%) and close-up shots (68.5%) much more so than long shots (15.7%). Facial
expressions, body images and gestures and proximate setting features were preferred over
remote landscape shots. While Atlantic 49 ads, for example, sometimes mobilized images
of a community panned in from a long distance camera position, most ads integrated
body images with local environmental scenarios in their messages of persuasion. For
instance, Super 7 ads typically utilized medium camera shots to reveal winners
expressions and communicate their feelings, moods and senses of place. On the other
hand, the majority of Scratch N Win ads designed lingering close-up facial shots of
players to evoke the delight of suddenly winning, and to suggest to viewers that the
jubilant winners de jour could be them tomorrow.
Two-thirds of the television commercials were slow paced in design (N=57).
Casual voiceovers, restricted background tonality, and the use of direct narration
predominated. Some ads, about a quarter of them (N=21), were quick paced. They
employed rapid frame changes and featured intense music. For example, Pro-Line ads
often relied on quick moving graphics, dramatic music and bright colours to attract and
hold viewers attention. The rapidly changing media frames mirrored and even mimicked
the high energy activities often associated with live sports events. Numerous images and
sounds of passionate players and fans were interpellated as a selling technique to
constitute the gambler as a potential athlete-like figure preoccupied with overcoming
adversity and obtaining victory. For instance, in one ad, Basketball, two zealous


58

basketball fans were shown with Go Team and #1 painted on their faces in their team
colours. This ad ended by provocatively asking the audience How good is your game?
referring of course to their wagering and winning. Still other commercials, about one in
ten, combined slow and fast paced design techniques. Atlantic 49 ads, in particular,
commenced with soft, natural images of places in the countryside (farms, valleys, lakes,
etc.), but then intensified the pace to dramatize the images of winners and wins. The
message was clear: the best of both worlds a laid-back lifestyle and the material
benefits of a fast-paced world were available through gambling.
Over eighty percent of ads (N=72) utilized some form of music in their messages
and over one-third used ambient sounds (N=32) such as rolling thunder, loud laughter or
cheering crowds to attract and appeal to audiences. Five ads deployed electronically
enhanced sounds, where noises associated with fireworks for example, were magnified to
contextualize and constitute the excitement of gambling to viewers. All 89 television ads
utilized bright colour schemes and avoided dark or even muted colours in their
presentational style. Vivid red, yellow, blue and green hues were depicted in homes and
cottages, on the streets, on clothing, and on product logos in the community, as if to
repeatedly remind the viewer that gambling was an upbeat, fun-filled consumer activity.
The average number of words per ad was 46. Over half the ads (N=48) used a
language level that was conversational, a third deployed neutral discourse (N=28) and 13
ads eschewed language altogether (14.6%). Conversational language was informal and
included phrases, such as People are gonna be winnin every day, Lay it on me and
Great view, huh? that appealed to the emotional, the familiar and the traditional.
Winners and/or actors were portrayed as friendly and trustworthy. They understood their


59

games and viewers were encouraged to appreciate their knowledge, feel the excitement of
their evident success and be just like them. The words and phrases used in a formal
neutral language style connoted a factual discourse of information communication that
actively downplayed the sentimental and the sensational. Story telling in these ads was
simple, straightforward and unremarkable. It reminded audiences through congratulatory
gestures and matter of fact declarations that gambling was personally rewarding and
socially beneficial. Congratulations to the Oxfords, Atlantic 49s recent top prize
winners and One hundred percent of the profits go back to Atlantic Canadians were
exemplars of this linguistic approach to advertising. Some ads did not combine texts with
images at all and relied instead on music and non-verbal signs or symbols to
communicate their messages. Some Scratch N Win ads, for example, portrayed winners
holding signs which announced their name and winnings in the first frame, while the next
frame dramatized the material benefits of their winnings: homes, cars, motorcycles, hot
tubs and holidays. The techniques of persuasion subtly allowed the commodities to speak
for themselves to the audience, as if to say if you want me scratch a ticket now!
Over eighty percent of the television ads (N=74) contained responsible gambling
messages such as Must be age of majority or Know your limit. Play within it.
However, these messages were almost less than two seconds in duration, and appeared in
very small font on the bottom of the last frame of the ad. Information on the odds of
winning appeared in only four of the commercials, and often in a decidedly confusing
manner. For example, scratch tickets marketed at Christmas time guaranteed a winner in
every pack without indicating the prize, and a frequently played Lotto 649 ad,
Lightning, displayed a man holding an umbrella that was suddenly struck with lightning


60

where a voiceover intoned: Think winning the Lotto 649 jackpot is about as likely as
being struck by lightning? Meet the latest luck struck winners. These texts and images
intimated that You could be next. Just like that, and ignored or subverted the true
probabilities of winning a jackpot.
The ads certainly evoked emotions as persuasion techniques. Amusement was
present in about three-quarters of the television commercials (N=65). Advertisements for
GameDay Pick em Pool, for example, deployed humour with suspense, and played on
the sum or size factor, Atlantic Canadas biggest pool, to attract and hold potential
purchasers. One ad, GameDay Hockey, depicted a goalie trying to stop a puck from
entering his net, but the puck was so gigantic that it flattened him and the net. Another ad,
GameDay Football, followed a player trying to make a winning play, but the football
was so big that it crushed him to the ground when he tried to catch it. The messages were
obvious if perhaps over determined. Sports betting offered enormous dividends to those
who played, and if youre not with it, you cant win it. Humour was also combined with
irony in some ads to encourage win/wealth scenarios around gambling. Voiceovers such
as Some people say that money doesnt buy happiness. Thats just because they dont
know where to shop, or You know, sometimes I do think that its too much money for
one person. But were two. Oh, yeah, were two, and being a multi-millionaire also has
its downsides. Like what for instance? subtly anticipated and then undercut ideas that
gambling may be associated with hedonistic consumption. The ads ended with voiceovers
reminding viewers of the latest jackpot winnings intimating that they too might want to
join the parade of stand up lottery comedians. Some Bucko ads also mobilized humour
with cartoon like characters to sell lottery games. In the Uncle Lou ad, the Bucko


61

character introduces his elderly uncle, depicted as a nickel on a stick, to the television
camera. They are at a convenience store to pick up a few things and play Bucko, the new
daily lottery game. Uncle Lou is presented as a scowling, grumpy, figure who complains
about the price of food items: What do they think, were made of money? he cries out.
At the checkout, the Bucko character prepares to pay for a Bucko ticket in addition to his
other purchases, and jokingly asks the clerk Do you accept uncles? The riled old uncle
is then shown attempting to carry out the bag of purchases, when Bucko says: Ill get it
for you Uncle Lou youre not a young buck anymore; to which Uncle Lou retorts
Says who punk?.
Excitement was also prominently connoted in about seventy percent of the ads
(N=64). Some winners were portrayed nearly as out of control with delight. They shouted
out their pleasure in the ads, Yippee, yippee, yippee, while others sang in appreciative
jubilation, Youre in the money, youre in the money. Even winning a free scratch card
was enough to enjoin exhilaration in the ad. I was really, really excited. So excited
conveyed the message that arousal could be quick and continuous, so keep on playing!
Still other commercials mobilized excitement by displaying bodies dancing, giggling,
laughing and waving. One ad, Hingley, had a winner high-fiving his cat a few times
because there was no one home to share in the excitement of winning. Another ad, Live it
Up, portrayed a customer screaming Live it up who in his excitement, runs into and
knocks over a corner store display because he is so thrilled about buying a newly released
Scratch N Win game. Such actions, we are then told, required the retailer to install
airbags and soften floors in his premises.


62

Television advertisements for Atlantic 49 products also evinced the emotions of
pride and loyalty (N=16). The tag line Lotto, Atlantic Style, typically drew a
dichotomy between the Atlantic provinces and the rest of Canada. Lunenburg and
Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, and Roberts Arm, Newfoundland and Labrador were celebrated
in the ads because they were serene coastal neighborhoods where a million dollars goes
as far as a million should. One ad, Million Dollar View, compared the Toronto and
Lunenburg lifestyles after winning one million dollars. The winners who left for Toronto
were portrayed as nave. Their million bought them confined high-rise living, noise,
pollution and green space the size of a flower pot. The winners who stayed in Lunenburg
were framed as sensible and worldly. They were skeptical of urban living and
appreciative of rural peacefulness, coastal beauty, charming homes, yachts, folk music
and partying on the sand. The real winners, the ads asserted, were those who lived in
our neighbourhoods because Atlantic Canadians can get more value out of a million
dollars than anyone else, and because winning does not detract from local place or
conviviality. One corporate ad, Big Winners, for example, showed lottery employees
dancing and declaring that winning does not change Atlantic Canadians. They should
know, the ad insisted, because they wrote the cheques and met the winners. Theyre still
the same friendly, down to earth Atlantic Canadians youd expect intoned one employee
figure in the ad. Lottery wins do not transform Nova Scotians into people from away!
Tranquility and sympathy were emotions embedded in nine of the ads and were
thus minor but powerful message persuaders. Relaxed faces, rural vistas, charming
cottages, and calm waters were signaled in the camera frames to set a mood of real or
potential serenity. Slow moving close-up frames and soft background music were added


63

to communicate the message that lottery play was connected to a state of leisure and
recreation. For example, in one ad entitled Congratulations Chesney an elderly man sits
in his house drinking tea and lists off the jobs he had over forty-four years - teacher, store
owner, and mechanic. The camera then pans to an outdoor scene where Chesney is shown
smiling, dancing, wearing a PayDay cap, and holding a PayDay poster in his arms,
without a care in the world. Chesneys problems, as he puts it in the ad, have gone down
the ditch and his future entails luxury living in a quiet forested area along side a river.
Similarly, sympathy was occasionally played upon to elicit audience interest to gamble.
PayDay ads, in particular, depicted workplace scenarios where employees were frustrated
on the job and then used these work scenarios to draw viewing audiences into the ads.
One ad, File These Please, portrayed Paul, an overworked employee, sitting at his desk
in a cluttered office. His boss comes in with a huge stack of papers which he smacks
down on Pauls desk. The boss asks Hey Paul, when you get a minute can you file these
please? The deflated employee sighs audibly, lowers his head, slouches forward, and
drops his head into his hands in apparent despair. The voiceover intones over the body of
the weary worker and reminds the viewers that there is an alternative; surely they know,
sometimes it takes a lot to get to PayDay.
Certain themes predominated as persuasive messages: first, winning,
normalization, and the personification of winners followed less frequently by community
benefits, retreatism and personal transformation (Table 19).
There was a very strong emphasis on big jackpots, fantastic dreams, wild hopes
and wishful thinking in about eighty percent of the television ads (N=70). One master
discourse that ran through many of the ads was the promise and potential of winning


64

while gambling. Scratch N Win ads, for example, highlighted the likelihood of winning.
Scratch a ticket and instantly fulfill your wish list was a persistent message. One ad, How
Many Weeks, promoted a top prize of one thousand dollars a week for 25 years. It
showed a young couple in a buying frenzy except that houses, televisions, and package
holidays were priced in weeks rather than dollars. A television set was worth seven
weeks plus tax and a house sold for about 15 or 16 weeks down payment at about a
week a month. This new currency converter assured the viewer a lifetime free of
financial worry. The ad ended with the voiceover: Hey, how would you spend a week?
leaving the audience to imagine what their life would be like were they to suddenly
scratch n win. Another ad, Christyne, promoted a special Christmas Scratch N Win
stocking stuffer pack of tickets and offered a top prize of five thousand dollars every
December for twenty five years. It urged viewers to Upstage Santa and create an
alternative Christmas Story where family members could leap, laugh, and imagine
winning enough money for a lifetime of consumer Christmases. A Lotto 649 ad, Lake
Collage Gifts, also dramatized winning and played upon family values as a persuasive
mechanism to endorse Bigger jackpot. Bigger Possibilities! The ad opened with a
summer scene. A mother and father have just bought a new cottage on a scenic lake.
Their admiring adult children indicate that they will want to visit every weekend upon
which they are handed keys not to their parents property, but to two beautiful waterfront
cottages of their own. The parents, children, and grandchildren embrace in joy as their
family dreams have been realized. The ad ends with the tagline: Everybodys got a
dream. A fourth ad emphasized exceptional chances of lottery winning. The commercial
Special 7 showed a man on a quiz show who was given so many chances to win the


65

grand prize that it was impossible for him to lose. Upon eventually winning the quiz, the
ad changed storyline and tone and a voiceover asked the viewer wouldnt it be great if
you had seven chances to win? You do with Special 7, the new Scratch N Win game
with total prizes of over forty million dollars Special 7 - get it while it lasts.
Many ads focused on the monetary gains of gambling and conveyed the
impression of wealth so vast that there was plenty for all. The majority of television
advertisements for Lotto 649 highlighted the jackpot values. Like the print and radio ads,
they alerted the audience to the huge jackpot draws: The next Lotto 649 jackpot is an
estimated $4 million, $20 million, $30 million, etc. Often draw winnings were dramatized
on screen using luminous lightning strikes, celebratory dances and exploding fireworks to
set the mood of the thrill of the big win. Similar to Lotto 649, the Super 7 lottery ads
focused on the amounts of money that could be gained. One television ad, The Flag,
showed a mountaineer reaching the summit ready to plant a Canadian flag when a fellow
climber announced that the Super 7 jackpot that week was ten million dollars, ten
million dollars, ten million dollars. The mountaineer dropped the flag, handed it to his
compatriot and ran down the mountainside to buy a ticket, leaving his fellow climber
holding the flag and asking the fleeing would be consumer Can you pick me up a
ticket?.
A second master message normalization was apparent in about sixty percent
of the commercials (N=56). As with radio ads, Bucko epitomized this theme best in its
messaging techniques for television ads. Bucko, it is worth remembering, was a loonie
icon with a painted smiley-face attached to a popsicle stick. Some television ads
portrayed him as a local guy hanging about lottery kiosks and retail stores encouraging


66

customers to gamble regularly. For example, in Celebrity Endorsement, Bucko parodied
the celebrity format often found in on-line poker and blackjack ads. Tony, of Tonys
Variety, is interviewed by Bucko. The ad showed a nervous retailer leaning over an
enclosed tray of lottery tickets conversing with Bucko. The latter reminds the viewer that
his game is played daily and worth 20,000 dollars in prizes. Bucko then asks Tony So,
would you recommend Bucko, you know, as a celebrity? Tony nervously replies Sure,
and is thanked for the endorsement and asked to sign Buckos popsicle stick. Other ads
portrayed Bucko as a famous personality: a star on the walk of fame, a talk show guest, a
soap opera figure, and a television actor. Taglines such as People play Bucko here every
day, You can win all these prizes every day, Seize the day, my friends, give a loonie
a chance, Play Bucko any day for just a buck, and Give a loonie a chance play
Bucko any day for just a buck, encouraged viewers to consider this gambling product as
affordable and natural, similar to buying coffee in the morning or picking up the daily
newspaper in the afternoon. Other ads normalized gambling by suggesting that winning
and winners was associated with Bucko play and that they trumped losing and losers who
may have played the game. In one ad, Guess How Many, the bold Bucko icon is
positioned in front of a progressive jackpot ticker and asks Guess how many Bucko
winners weve had so far? Maybe this will help. The counter then sucks Bucko into its
mechanism, spins him around and spits him out. When the counter stops on the final
number of winners, 2,202,063, a dizzy Bucko announces Wow, thats a lot of winners!
Give a loonie a chance.
The ALC also partnered with a local news program to promote a PayDay contest
draw. ATVs Live at Five news anchors announced several PayDay Perks contests.


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Viewers were invited to call in their funny work stories to the television station in order
to qualify for a dream salary of $2000 every two weeks for a year. These contests were
reminiscent of ALCs actual PayDay game which offered dream salaries of $2000 every
two weeks for twenty years. By employing well-known local media personalities and
replicating gambling products as perks in contests, these ads further introduced and
legitimized gambling to television audiences. News people, whom viewers trusted to tell
them the truth, delivered the message that gambling was an acceptable and rewarding
activity.
Two out of five television lottery advertisements personalized lottery winners as a
strategy for pitching their sales to consumers (N=37). Scratch N Win campaigns for
Bingo, Crossword, The Price is Right, Special 8, Christmas for Life, and Holiday Scratch
Pack for example, invoked a common folk approach to their messaging. Some ads
celebrated Scratch N Win winners in photo gallery formats and introduced them to
television audiences as just one of the 350,000 Atlantic Canadians who win every
week. Winners in other ads were shown recounting amusing stories about how they
gambled, and enjoyed the benefits of their winnings. They narrated their good fortune
and actively encouraged viewers to play it man, play it, just keep on scratchin, and
try your luck; it only costs two bucks. Viewers were enjoined to identify with people
who were just like them: friendly, down-to-earth, and trusting. It was like the best
moment ever, It was absolutely awesome cant beat it, and Its a lot of fun were
repeated refrains in the ads that affirmed the pleasure of lottery games and the excitement
of the win and connected them to the names, places, and people of the Atlantic Provinces.
Another set of ads also introduced the television audience to lottery winners, but this time


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the latter were portrayed as conspicuous consumers: buying products, renovating homes,
and traveling abroad, as if to say to the viewer this could be you if you gambled. Still
other ads highlighted the spin-off benefits of gambling for the community at large.
Lottery winners were depicted as employers hiring carpenters to build their homes or as
healthy consumers stimulating the economy by interacting with salespeople who sold
them trucks or automobiles. Gambling it seems was good for everyone!
The lottery commercials also connected the personification of winning via
gambling with the communal good, especially in their corporate ads (N=15). For
example, one ad mobilized a win-win storyline while the song I feel good played in
the background. Winners were depicted dancing and singing, while lottery employees,
store retailers and players promoted the advantages of gambling to the community: new
social services, better education, and enhanced construction which, in turn, was portrayed
through images of chalkboards, paved roads, and swimming pools. This commercial and
others like it dramatized nostalgia for gambling. In one ad, one winner recounts
memories of his family gathered around the television to watch early lottery draws when
large ball machines were used to pick winners. Another Scratch N Win ad campaign
promoted Commonwealth Super Pack tickets and reminded viewers that gambling served
a worthy civic cause the commonwealth games for Halifax. Then and now gambling
was a win win proposition; it not only offers prizes to players, it supports sports,
culture and business in Atlantic Canada. This was a powerful message that pitched the
products as both economically affordable and socially rewardable.
A fifth message was that gambling offered a potential escape from the daily grind
(N=12). These ads evinced another type of dream. The prize was more than money; it


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included a worry-free life. Real winners were used to narrate their new found lives after
lotto: My problems is down the ditch an gone and The family is looked after, said
one character in one ad while another person in a second ad insisted that after winning
The grind is gone. Other phrases such as It just makes life that much easier, Enjoy
Life. Get Paid and Now lifes a little bit sweeter for the whole family emphasized
lottery play as a solution to the problems of everyday life. The average Joe/Jane could
change their lives forever if they hit the jackpot. And as one lottery winner reminded
viewers this is not that difficult: Real people do win. Other ads employed actors and
used humour to depict how difficult it was for hard working people to get through an
average work day. One ad entitled Office Toy showed a childish office worker playing
with a noisy toy monkey, and teasing a fellow worker with it while others looked on. The
next frame showed a co-worker getting up calmly, moving around the work cubicle and
then suddenly and violently smashing the toy monkey to bits with a plastic golf club.
Apparently he could no longer stand the frustrations of the daily grind! The voiceover in
the ad said it all: Sometimes it takes a lot to get to PayDay. Wouldnt it be nice to win a
dream salary of $2,000 every two weeks for twenty years? Another ad, Customer
Service Representative, depicted a young, male clerk in a call centre setting answering
questions about satellite television. He explains the set up to a dim-witted customer on
the telephone: Find a TV button. Just give that a press. No, the TV button. The top of the
remote. Yeah. And enter the code 635. 635. Im telling you what the code is. 635. In
frustration with the customer who is unable to understand simple instructions, he screams
the code 635 one more time while falling to his knees in a mantra-like gesture asking for
peace from ignorant clients. The voiceover in the ad then reminds the viewer that work


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and frustration dont have to go together. Lottery wins are an alternative to the wage
struggles of everyday life: Sometimes it takes a lot to get to PayDay. Wouldnt it be nice
to win a dream salary of $2,000 every two weeks for twenty years? the ad voiceover
whimsically asks the viewing audience. Who could disagree? This evocation of the
benefits of being removed from mundane work rituals was also represented in a Lotto 649
ad called Retirement. It depicted three young people entering an office with a cake and a
dozen or so party balloons. The group trudges past the reception area, down a corridor,
and through a labyrinth of office receptacles to find their hard-working father. They
present him with the cake and declare Happy retirement Daddy. The father looks
surprised and perplexed, shrugs his body, and says he is not retiring. His children smile,
nod and then inform him that they have won Lotto 649. Dad gets up from his seat, nods
his head, giggles approvingly, and blissfully celebrates his unexpected departure from the
work world. The tagline flashes across the screen and reminds the audience: Bigger
jackpots. Bigger Possibilities!
A sixth rather minor message was that gambling was associated with personal
transformation resulting in social mobility for consumers (N=8). One ad campaign for
Super 7, for example, depicted a young couples social betterment after winning the
lottery. These ads depicted the actors ruminating over their newly acquired amenities: a
chef to cook for them, a home with countless rooms to live in, and valuable properties
located world wide. One of these ads showed a Super 7 winner observing his chef
making him dinner. Looking toward the camera the lottery winner stated: I could watch
him work for hours even days. Not only was the player no longer an employee


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working for a living, he had suddenly become an employer capable of hiring his own
employees.
The Point of Sale Pitch
In addition to television and radio spots, print ads, and billboard posters there
were many lottery point of sale displays in retail outlets. Point of Sale expenditures
totaled $1,304,179; however, this figure included other costs, such as winners travel
expenses and promotional materials, decorations and prizing for employee events, and
radio station ticket giveaways. These products were disbursed among approximately
5,500 retail outlets in Atlantic Canada, 1,200 of which were located in Nova Scotia.
Many of these outlets were convenience stores, supermarkets, gas stations, pharmacies,
licensed liquor establishments, and official kiosks often located in public malls (ALC,
2005/2006). The volume and accessibility of these retail outlets meant that gambling
products were readily available to be seen by young consumers. While adolescents may
not legally gamble, they were introduced to gambling products at a very early age
because the signage is pervasive and the packaging appeals to a wide range of consumers
as well as to their pocketbooks. Indeed, unlike tobacco products in Nova Scotia,
gambling products were not restricted with regard to convenience of purchase or forced
to compete for brand shelf space. Lottery products were almost always visibly displayed
usually under cover of glass or in special dispenser cases on cashier countertops. This
placement and distribution schema maximized the opportunity of up-selling gambling
products to consumers and increased their visibility to all ages of consumers.
In addition to the 1,200 retail outlets in Nova Scotia, 429 liquor licensed
establishments also offered video lottery terminal (VLT) gambling on 2,249 machines


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located in bars, lounges, cabarets, legions, golf and curling clubs, and other sites, and an
estimated 600 machines located on reserve lands. In 2006/2007, VLTs generated revenue
of $425 million, with $151 million coming from Nova Scotia (ALC, 2006/2007). In
2006/2007, the VLT wager accounted for forty-seven percent ($819 million) of the total
provincial gaming wager ($1.52 billion) (Nova Scotia, 2006/2007), and retailers earned
commissions in the amount of $31 million.
Advertisements at these licensed locations promoted popular games such as Royal
Spins, Lucky Larry, Cherry Rain, and Double Bonus. However, advertising and
promotion was limited to the interior of the approved premises (Nova Scotia, 2007).
So, advertising of VLT products did not occur on radio, television or in print and was
restricted to the venues or to features of the device itself availability, name of the
machine games, electronic familiarity, speed, sight and sound of the device, exposure,
near wins and scenarios, and fast paced rewards and reinforcements all of which were
important in advertising the product and forming impressions about it but which were
outside our focus on gambling commercials (Zangeneh et al., 2008, 140-142).
We examined 763 point of sale advertisements, including digital signs, posters,
banners, promotional items, tickets, window signs, winner announcements, and floor and
counter displays related to traditional ticket and VLT products. The product name most
frequently mentioned in these ads was Scratch N Win; 356 or 47 percent of the ads were
for these products followed by ProLine/GameDay at 11 percent, Bingo at 7 percent and
Lotto 649 at 5.5 percent. The most obvious features of these ads were their shapes, color
schemes, placement locations and messages. The shapes of the ads, for example, were
often square or rectangular ranging from two inches to eight feet in size with some


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banners exceeding sixteen feet in length. However, different forms were calibrated
depending upon the nature of the product. Many displays for sports-related lottery tickets
were configured as golf balls, goalposts or footballs. A lottery ticket called The Hot
Series was exhibited with a large, blazing fire in the background, and a tent card
advertising scratch tickets to win a home makeover was shaped as a paintbrush.
Christmas advertisements were often portrayed as stockings, trees and bells, or associated
with the figure of Santa Claus. Lottery tickets in these instances were touted as the
ultimate stocking stuffer! Other special occasions, where gambling products were
introduced or existing ones were remembered, were often rolled out with new logos,
much fan fare and conveyed in the language of anniversaries or celebrations.
Colour, of course, is a powerful element in defining brand identity, establishing
retail presence and increasing shelf impact. While no one colour was inherently more
visible at retail outlets than others, point of sale adverts were often vivid combinations of
bright reds, yellows, blues and greens that differentiated gambling products and sub-
varieties from each other. Bingo ads, for instance, were framed in pink, mauve, and
purple, whereas Pro-Line ads were consistently bright green, allowing customers to
instantly recognize and identify specific products. Colour schemes were simple but
dramatic. For example, window signs for Lotto 649 and Super 7 commonly had a bright
blue background with yellow lettering on top that told the consumer how much money
was available to win: $35 MILLION or BIGGEST EVER! leaped off the poster. Or,
the ads portrayed the highly recognizable ALC logo in order to attract and hold the
consumers attention long enough to inform them that certain products were available at
particular outlets at particular times. The Scratch N Win tickets were often


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advertisements in and of themselves and the gambling products they advertised mirrored
popular games like Monopoly, Crossword and Scrabble or appealed to gender and age
preferences for sports (GameDay) or travel (Vacation for Life). When compared to other
product advertising, they were boldly shaded and complex in text with larger amounts of
information placed on smaller surfaces. Even the ballot box headers, ticket trays,
merchandise holders, play-stands and sidewalk jackpot signs were eye-catching
advertisements designed to attract attention and incite purchases.
This brings us to the location of advertising. Packaging at point of sale has to tell
the gambling product story clearly and persuasively within a short period of time
otherwise consumers will not likely notice or consider purchasing the products. So,
gambling products are usually placed in high traffic areas inside retail outlets where
maximum visibility is guaranteed. Consumers are continuously exposed to these
products even when purchasing other consumer items such as gas, food, sundries,
medicine, and drink and this spatial arrangement adds to the possibility of impulse
purchasing. Clear plastic dispensers of scratch tickets, placed on the counter or hanging
above it, for example, increased impulse buying in the state of Missouri where it was
estimated that 80 percent of such sales were impulse driven (Clotfelter & Cook, 1989:
197). Indeed print and electronic advertisements at the place of purchase permits the
viewer more control over the viewing time and message transmission process. Customers
can stop to look or turn around to review and analyze what they have perceived as they
stand in line, chat with friends or shop for other items.
Point of sale advertisements for gambling are typically stationary communication
devices that rely on the viewer to identify visual signifiers, not usually anchored by


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words nor supplemented by plot lines, and then fill in implicit messages such as winning,
happiness, and freedom. Many of the ads we studied were informational in nature and
provided announcements about new products or directed appeals to buy tickets. Some
provided new information about changes to the rules of games, the prize sizes or the prize
structures. Others gave information about how to play or promoted a feel good attitude
about lottery gambling by reminding viewers that gambling brought public and corporate
benefits. Not surprisingly, point of sale ads were not rich in thematic content or plot
structure. In fact unlike outdoor billboards and posters and television advertising they
eschewed human images; of the 763 point of sale advertisements, only 15 percent
(N=117) contained facial or body images. When present, these portrayals usually
consisted of winners or hired actors or models and were represented by headshots of
smiling faces laid out against a backdrop of announcements listing jackpot wins. The
hired models in the ads were almost always depicted as carefree, exuberant and delighted
to be gambling eliciting excitement in almost twenty percent (18.7%) of the ads. For
example, one woman was shown pumping her fists, apparently overcome with the joy of
gambling. The caption read: Bingo: Top Prizes of $10,000. Of the 180 human images
deployed in lottery point of sale ads, 35 percent were male (N=63) and 65 percent were
female (N=117). Ninety four percent (N=168) of the character images were Caucasian
with six percent (N=12) indexing visible minorities. Two out of five people portrayed in
the ads appeared to be between the ages of 19 and 35 (N=80); however those between the
ages of 36-60 (N=50) and 60 or over (N=49) were also well represented in the
promotional images. Only one commercial portrayed a child. This ad showed a young


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boy playing soccer with the caption: A community program by NSGC. Support 4 Sport
All profits go to sport in Nova Scotia.
The theme of responsible gambling was present in about half of the 763
advertisement and promotional materials (N=392). These warnings typically reinforced
the legal rules about age participation in gambling, instructed retailers to Check I.D.
and not to sell to minors, or provided general advice to players such as Dont gamble
your future, Know your limit Play within it, or Responsible Gambling Its your
best bet. These caveats were typically fixed in small lettering at the bottom of the ads,
or in the case of tickets, on the backside; however, some placed informational remedies
inside colorful icons in the shape of yield or stop signs that were more noticeable.
Additionally, information cards were distributed to retailers who, in turn, were advised to
act on them as an expression of their commitment to social responsibility. These cards
contained tips on how to play responsibly, identify warning signs of problem gambling,
and obtain gambling helpline numbers.
When examining the content themes the narrative of winning, being a winner,
or winning could change your life appeared in almost ninety percent of the point of sale
ads (N=680). All outlets received ads that promoted large monetary jackpots often
juxtaposed with the names of previous winners. Many of these ads inferred that
consumers could be sudden winners, using phrases such as instant millionaire, or we
all win as triggers to buy lottery products. Prize amounts in the millions of dollars were
advertised internally and externally at most retail outlets. Large billboards aided in
disseminating information about these cash prizes and retail stores joined in this exercise
through displaying sidewalk signs and clipboards for passer-bys to see. As one sign aptly


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displayed: Winning Numbers Available Here! Often these monetary prizes were made
even more attractive because they were offered in conjunction with other corporate
sponsors such as Canadian Tire, Needs, Alpine and Moosehead Lager, and WalMart, or
in association with corporate reward programs. Millionaire Life was linked to Shoppers
Optimum Points, Petro-Canada Points and Air Miles Reward Miles so as to entice
consumers to purchase gambling products for other consumption bonuses or benefits. The
PayDay lottery ticket offered gamblers the opportunity to win instant gasoline savings,
free gasoline for a year, and a free $2 Atlantic PayDay Lottery ticket at any participating
Ultramar location. The advertisements of various Scratch N Win tickets promoted luxury
getaway packages to exotic places such as the Caribbean, Cuba, Hollywood, or Beverly
Hills, or to international events such as professional football games. Typically, such
inducements were advertised in conjunction with other opportunities to attend regional
and local events such as the East Coast Music Awards, local sailing regattas, or weekend
getaways.
Not all gambling advertisements offered the opportunity to win large amounts of
money or lucrative travel opportunities. The advertisements for Scratch N Win tickets
often included lesser inducements such as vouchers or other prizes like home
entertainment centers, hockey team jerseys, baseball equipment, football tickets, home
makeovers, MP3 players, plasma televisions, shopping sprees and even smaller prizes
such as free coffee and additional tickets. One large display offered an Xbox video game
system and a Star Wars DVD boxed set as prizes that would be particularly attractive to
youth, while others enjoined consumers to fill in ballots to win a BBQ and $500 in gift
cards at participating Save Easy or Dominion locations if a $10 ticket for a chance to win


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$100,000 was purchased. An assortment of brightly branded lottery merchandise was also
available at some point of sale outlets. Items included clothing, flashing magnets, playing
cards, furniture coasters, change purses and mouse pads. This portable branded
merchandise guaranteed that gambling signs and symbols entered homes (mugs),
workplaces (desk calendars), and leisure spaces (coolers) and further legitimated
gambling as an ever present, and routine activity. As Biener & Siegel (2000:409)
observed, merchandise giveaways with brand logos on them are deployed to precede and
then predict progression to actual consumption behaviour such as smoking, drinking or
gambling. These add-on products and merchandise campaigns helped normalize the
purchase of gambling products by appealing to consumers who felt they were acquiring
some immediate and practical benefits when playing lotteries and by dispelling the
disquiet of those who might otherwise oppose or be unfamiliar with gambling, the
successful, inner-directed socially conscious people typically found in psychographic
studies of values and lifestyles.
While ads on radio, television and on the lottery website reminded the public
where lottery revenue was spent and highlighted its social significance, only 7.6 percent
of the point sale ads (N=58) were devoted to those purposes. One Superstar Pamphlet
equated bingo with community development and reminded people that 25% of revenues
from the game are shared with participating charities such as the Halifax Forum
Association, Spryfield Lyons Club, Dartmouth Sportsplex and the QEII Foundation.
Other ads were less specific in regard to the beneficiaries of gambling. For example, one
ad simply claimed to be Making a Difference by Giving and an ad for a Super Pack of
lottery tickets stressed that gambling was a win win for Atlantic Canada. Such


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messages that declared Everyones a Winner were reinforced by digital signage
displays that flashed, 4.5 billion in prizes awarded 4.7 billion returned to Atlantic
Canadian communities. These ads created a feel good atmosphere around the lottery
and its products because schools, hospitals, sports, charities, and the arts were all winners
and because even buying a losing ticket or making a losing sport bet was really a latent
form of winning for worthy causes. This theme of community relevance was especially
well promoted in annual reports and reviews to the public. For example, in 2005-2006 the
lottery was an active corporate sponsor of The Red Cross Tsunami Relief, The United
Way, The Atlantic Journalism Awards along with several sports events, cultural
exhibitions and arts awards (ALC, 2005-2006:6). As Clotfelter and Cook (1989:206)
observe of lottery advertising elsewhere, the theme of civic gain may not be the primary
message but it is an integral part of the lotterys total marketing strategy because it
adds more users and more usage to the product mix.
Finally, some point of sale material was directed at retailers for purposes of
personal selling. This literature, often in the form of informational and promotional
materials, was usually disseminated when new gambling products came on stream. For
example, letters were sent to retailers informing them of exciting PAYDAY, PRO-LINE
and OVER/UNDER enhancements that would allow players to get MORE PRIZES,
MORE GAMES, MORE SPORTS! This required that retailers change the selection slips
and ensure that all staff read the information sheets pertaining to new ticket distributions.
Such memos informed retailers how changes to gambling products impacted their store
inventories and personal selling possibilities. Other promotional material focused on
selling these games and demonstrating how they were played to customers. For instance,


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when GameDay Pick em Pool was introduced, retailers received a Coming Soon!
memo that gave instructions on terminal service use (i.e. as with all of our game
launches, your terminal will be out of service on July 17, until approximately noon) and
on how to play the game (i.e. the player(s) with the most correct selections win or share
the Pools prize). Fact sheets that documented expenditures, winnings, and participation
rates were also distributed to retailers accompanied with incentives to encourage the
acquisition and sale of additional gambling products over and above usual consignments.
Thus, to celebrate the launch of KENO, retailers and their staff were given the chance to
win one of 10 prizes of $100 and one of 50 KENO vests. This took the form of a
KENO Kwiz questionnaire that required detailed knowledge of the game in order to
win. Overall, the purpose of such promotional and informational material was product
knowledge, considered essential in maximizing sales of products to players.
In sum, 114,538 Atlantic Lottery advertisements either aired or were printed in
Atlantic Canada from January 1, 2005 to December 31, 2006. The total media spend
including media buying fees for the calendar years 2005 and 2006 totaled $9,657,802.
This volume amounted to an average of 156 ad placements per day. Of the 114,538 ads
47,004 were presented to audiences in Nova Scotia. In other words, an average of 65
gambling ads per day, or 1,958 ads per month were viewed on television, heard on the
radio or read in newspapers, magazines, flyers and on billboards in the province. In
addition, approximately 763 point of sale advertisements were distributed to hundreds of
retailers in Nova Scotia, enabling countless, frequent contacts between product
advertisements and citizens, young and old, as they ventured into corner stores, shopped
at malls, filled prescriptions, gassed up their cars, and bought drinks, meals, and


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groceries. The dominant messages in print, television, radio and point of sale ads in our
sample was money focused; the chance, even likelihood, of winning, the personification
of winners, and the active indulgence in hopes and dreams of winning were present in
about 90 percent of the ads. This was followed by normalization; 63 percent of the print,
television and radio ads focused on delivering the message that gambling was an
acceptable, natural and regular activity which, in turn, was bolstered by point of sale
displays that were readily available inside or outside approximately 1,200 retail outlets
and 429 VLT establishments. By contrast, responsible gambling advisories or warnings
informing players of the statistical chances of winning or advising them to gamble wisely
appeared in only half of the ads we analyzed. Advertising lotteries as a form of
communication in Atlantic Canada encouraged people to believe that they were buying a
prudent winning investment when they were probably purchasing an infinitesimal
opportunity for economic gain. Perhaps Binde (2008:18-19) is right when he says it is
time for a better balance between truth and deception in lottery advertising and
promotion.



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Casino Advertising
The Nova Scotia Gaming Corporation (NSGC), enabled by the provincial Gaming
Control Act, oversees and manages the operators who carry out the day-to-day business
of casino gambling in the province. The Casino Nova Scotia, as a gaming operator,
provides a number of regulated card, dice, and machine based products. It is found in two
locations: on the waterfront in downtown Halifax and next door to Centre 200 in
downtown Sydney. Both casinos are now owned by the Great Canadian Gaming
Corporation (GCGC). Together, they offer over 1,000 slot and table games, along with
live entertainment and dining seven days a week. The casino wager accounted for almost
one-third of the 2006/2007 total provincial wager of $1.5 billion and the provincial net
revenue to the province before expenses totaled $89.4 million (Nova Scotia, 2006/2007).
Marketing casino venues involves promoting gambling by associating it with
entertainment. Vacation and family packages, for example, promote fine dining, live
performances, and sporting events; the ultimate objective being to induce playing activity
and promote future visits to the venues (Eade & Eade, 1997). Outside the casino, sights
and sounds such as large neon billboards, regular radio, print and television commercials
and inviting live attractions, and inside the casino, spinning slot machines, colourful
roulette reels, clacking chips and coins, inexpensive drinks, cheap buffets and snack bars,
winners circles, loyalty programs, and VIP services for high rollers market gambling as
exciting and fun. The games themselves are marketing devices. Slot machines are
flashing beacons inviting customers to sit or stand before them. They are designed to be
easy to play and provide potentially large prizes, while offering customers low minimum
bets (as little as one cent per spin). Game graphics and features are visually appealing,


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theme-based, and fast paced so as to welcome and reward customers to stay in the casino
environment and return again. Table games which make up about 25% of casino profits
are also marketing tools that emphasize the sophistication of casino life. Pit bosses and
dealers often dress up to signify the prestige of the games and the glamour of the
environment and to convey the message that the casino wants skilled players, as well as
unskilled gamblers inside their doors. To paraphrase Zangeneh et al. (2008:137), the
casino is a moveable feast of excitement and activity that produces a variety of
psychological highs. Every feature of the casino from the architecture and internal
designs to naming the slot machines is deliberately marketed to encourage customer
familiarity, likeability and loyalty; ironically nothing inside or outside the casino milieu is
left to chance! Unfortunately, the casino operator refused to provide complete
expenditure figures for advertising despite the efforts of the Nova Scotia Gaming
Corporation to obtain the data.
The Print Media
The Casino Nova Scotia (CNS) used the print media as one source of advertising.
Print formats included newspapers, magazines, flyers, and outdoor billboards and posters.
As stated earlier, only advertisements from 2006 were available, so we only examined
forty-three distinct print ads. Thirty-one were newspaper ads that showed 119 times in
nine different news and entertainment publications (Table 20). The majority of ads, four
out of five, were placed in weekly rather than daily periodicals (N=97). The Coast
(N=43), a weekly review of news, movies, music and entertainment, and Entertainment
News (N=45), a weekly supplement, were most heavily used to advertise Casino
gambling in a print format and so not surprisingly, 82 percent of casino ads were shown


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in the entertainment section (N=98), rather than the sports (N=4) or news (N=2) sections
of the papers. Thirteen percent of the ads (N=5) were not classified because they did not
contain enough information to code or analyze. We also examined 9 distinct outdoor ads
that were featured on large superboards (14x48) and posters (10x20) in three distinct
locations: Halifax, Dartmouth and Sydney. Ads appeared more often in downtown
Halifax than elsewhere; a casino advertisement could be viewed here every day of the
year. These nine outdoor ads ran from 28 days to 280 days, averaging ninety days per ad
and reached an estimated market of 453,000 people. Three other ads formatted for
specialized publications were also examined, although exact profile exposures
(frequency, dates, etc.) for these ads were not available so no further analysis was
possible.
Forty of the forty-three print ads used human images to convey their messages to
customers. The majority of people that appeared in the ads were males (N=83) rather than
females (N=54). Almost three-quarters of the ads (N=32) were directed for an intended
audience between the ages of 19 and 35, and of the 137 people who appeared in the 43
ads 118 were Caucasians and 19 were visible minorities. Only three ads were designed
without human characters, but good dining images such as a death by chocolate were
mobilized to enjoin consumers to come to the casino: Let Cupid be your Server at the
Valentine gastronomic extravaganza or come on down and enjoy a quickie express
lunch in an exciting atmosphere encouraged the public to eat and play. One ad even
featured a joker icon to simulate the party-like ambiance of the casino, More. Real. Live.
Excitement, and to remind carnival goers that if they spotted jesters, jugglers, magicians,
musicians, showgirls or showguys in the casino, they would be eligible to win a $3,000


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travel voucher and $500 spending money to live it up in Las Vegas. Males were not
usually portrayed in a sexualized manner; however, females were portrayed in a
sexualized manner in twelve of the forty-three ads (27.9%). Low cut dresses and
seductive body postures were used to highlight the seductive pleasure of the casino and to
capture the audiences attention. For example, one ad pictured a female performer
lounging on a couch in a bright red dress that was cut low and pulled up high to expose
her legs. By contrast, the images of the male performers in the same ad featured close-up
shots that were free of sexual innuendo.
The print ads were designed to both inform and entertain. Newspaper ads, for
example, were basic and did not usually rely on dramatic effects to attract attention and
convey messages. Two out of three were printed in colour rather than in the black and
white format typically found in daily newspapers. They contained one or two images per
ad, and the rest of the ad provided information about upcoming casino events. For
example, the ad Cirque Sublime showed an image of a trapeze artist along with the show
price, dates, and box office phone number. The printed texts in the ads mirrored an
entertainment review format: A high wired circus of delights! and Dazzling,
highflying and stunning!. The focus of these ads was to introduce the audience to the
next thrilling performer or act and to link them to the casino milieu.
The outdoor ads differed in their design from those placed in newspapers. They
were much bolder in colour contrast and more minimal in written messaging. The most
frequently displayed ad was Welcome to Las Vegas, Nova Scotia which ran for at least
280 days (34.5%) in 2006 in Halifax and Dartmouth (Table 21). This ad, which displayed
the iconic showgirl common to many Casino promotions in several ad formats, equated


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the established excitement of Vegas with the anticipated attractions of Casino Nova
Scotia. The next two most frequent ads shown in 2006 were The Night is also Young
and Really Excited, which ran 140 days and 112 days respectively but only in Halifax.
Really Excited advertised the casinos new poker room to potential patrons and ran from
February to June. It conveyed its message with ironic humour; ten rather dull looking
poker face images were presented on a billboard but the textual caption subverted the
mundane images and intoned an oppositionary message to the reader: Everyones really
excited about our new poker room! The Night is also Young played on sexual dalliance
and youthfulness to attract viewer interest. It displayed an elderly male character
gambling with two attractive young females. The images and words subtly insinuated the
benefits of a lengthy stay at the casino and the promise of untold, unanticipated things to
come later. The six other outdoor advertisements showed for either 28 or 56 days
consecutively at three different locations: Halifax, Sydney and Dartmouth. Several of
them used split picture designs for dramatic effects to appeal to consumers. The left half
of the billboard, for example, featured vivid images of singers, showgirls, or gamblers so
that they could be viewed with the eye at a glance; the right side highlighted large,
colourful textual taglines enjoining people to come and gamble: The Soul of the City
Casino Nova Scotia! Live The Thrill On the Halifax Waterfront! These ads, while less
frequently displayed to the public, repeated the familiar refrain that gambling was fun and
exciting, especially at the casino, where it was also glitzy and glamorous.
The print ads that were formatted for specialized publication were designed with a
particular consumer in mind, and attempted to connect specific demographics and events
to the casino. For example, one ad in the Atlantic Canada Asian Newspaper targeted a


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Chinese audience to celebrate the new year and Ring in the Year of the Pig!. Another
ad in Occasions magazine, (distributed by the Nova Scotia Liquor Commission), depicted
three young women enjoying multi-coloured martinis at the casino. A third ad sponsored
a gay pride event guidebook. It featured a showgirl dressed in a flamboyant manner to
dramatize the message that worthy purposes can cross over gender lines and politics. It
used indirection and soft-sell techniques to dispel unsavory connotations associated with
gambling and to remind readers that casino revenues are used for worthy community
programs. A fourth ad placed in the Halifax Buskers Festival program urged the viewers
to enjoy the unique art of street theatre on the waterfront, and while there go enjoy the
many thrills Casino Nova Scotia has to offer. It communicated the social value of the
casino emphasizing its role as a benefactor of popular events to those who might
otherwise be unfamiliar with or oppose this form of gambling. An advertisement for the
casino restaurant was also placed in the magazine Where to Eat in Canada to appeal to
those who enjoyed Dining at its Best! To reach the away market, the casino teamed
up with Discount Car Rental, who stocked 1,500 of their cars a month with flyers
promoting casino products and activities. The front of this ad highlighted the
entertainment, good food and valuable contests available at the casinos, while the back of
the flyer detailed the numerous gambling attractions. The sales appeal was primarily
informational: what to play and where to play predominated but it also urged people to
view the casino as a place of gracious living where romance and good fortune might be
possible.
All forty-three print ads incorporated a responsible gambling message in their
messaging. Some underscored age limitations, Must be 19 years of age or older, while


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others were more cautionary in nature: Know your limits. Play responsibly. Although
consistent across print formats, these messages were not especially visible as they were
printed in very small font and only at the bottom of the ads. Few design measures, such
as contrasting colours or notable shapes, were utilized to bring attention to these
messages.
Ninety percent of the print ads were designed to elicit excitement (N=39).
However, this was not usually conveyed through large jackpots or fabulous prizes. In
fact, about twenty percent of the ads never mentioned cash prizes at all. The ad Lucky
Ladies was an exception, as it was used to promote the enhanced blackjack optional
side bet that was new to Casino Nova Scotia, and invited readers to Play for your
chance to win a share of $85,980.34. Such ads were associated with a common notion of
casino activities gambling at poker, blackjack, slots and roulette. However, the majority
of print ads illustrated the excitement of the casino by promoting a variety of other
activities. For example, they relied on the thrill of live performances by well known
singers, circus acts, hypnotists, comedians and athletes to attract people to the gambling
floor. Many famous Canadian entertainers were associated with these ads: Chilliwack,
Kim Mitchell, Bruce Guthro, Spirit of the West, David Usher, to name but a few. These
ads offered up the casino as a fun site to enjoy an array of attractive social events.
The entertainment value of the casino was a predominant theme emphasized in all
of the print ads. The content of newspapers ads, for example, stressed the fun ethic of the
casino (82.4%) over wagering (10.9%), although several combined both themes (4.2%)
(Table 22). While most ads highlighted entertainment, they maintained a link to gambling
by placing information about the upcoming shows on top of images of round poker chips.


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The four most frequently shown newspaper ads, Fight Night (15.1%), Songwriters
Circle (9.2%), Wayne Lee (5.9%), and Canada Day Kim Mitchell (5.9%) all stressed
the feel good atmosphere of the casino and conveyed images that gambling was a
pleasurable and benign pastime. Almost three out of four of these ads appeared on
Thursday editions and linked up to the high volume weekend consumption period.
Thirty-nine of the forty-three print ads also helped to naturalize gambling, as their
emphasis on entertainment indicated to readers that casino gambling was a normal part of
social life. Even annual holidays such as Canada Day and New Years Eve were
associated with gambling in the ads.
Similar to the newspaper ads, the main message of four of the nine outdoor ads
was the entertainment value of casino products. For example, The Soul of the City
portrayed a close-up shot of a beautiful woman singing sultry blues music, and Some
Games are Played Away from the Tables showed three young women enjoying
martini-type drinks in the casino setting. While both ads contained the caption Casino
Nova Scotia. Live the Thrill. On the Halifax Waterfront, neither mentioned gambling in
its texts or images other than to display small poker chips icons on the margins of the ad.
However, unlike the newspaper ads, gambling and wagering were also continuous
messages signified on about one-third of the billboards and posters (N=3). The ad A
Kitchen Party Every Day, for instance, showed three friends gambling and apparently
winning, with the caption Were raised the ante on excitement embedded in the main
frame of the picture. Gambling in this ad was promoted as the main reason to visit the
casino. Two other outdoor ads incorporated both entertainment and gambling themes
which as a percentage (22.2%) was more frequent than newspaper ads (4.2%). This was


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best seen in the ad Casino Nova Scotia which combined a montage of side-by-side
images, dice games, singers, poker players, gourmet meals, and Las Vegas type show
girls in the messaging.
The Radio Format
Radio commercials were an important staple of casino advertising that reached a
cross section of the Nova Scotia population. We studied a sample of 58 radio ads that
played on three radio stations throughout 2006 that offered light, hard or classic rock, and
one radio campaign that included a further six commercials that aired on six Maritime
radio stations. Fully fifty three of the ads ran for 30 seconds and five aired for 15
seconds. This sample included all radio ads retained by the casino but it was not the total
sample as some ads from one campaign were missing. However, we cross checked the
reasons for the missing data, and discovered that the volume of missing ads were small in
number and not atypical in content messaging. Thus we assume that the sample is
reasonably typical of radio advertising. Unfortunately, exact exposure profiles, such as
dates and times of air play, were not available for these 58 radio ads. However, as noted
in the methodology section of the report we were able to obtain a snap-shot schedule
from 2007 that was considered typical of a one-week ad purchase for 2006. Using this
data as an indicator of weekly radio media spend it would seem that a total of 167
casino advertisements aired every week on three radio stations and reached an estimated
listening audience of 230,851. These ads ran concurrently and played from 5:30 a.m. to
10 p.m. daily. For the most part, the ads were evenly distributed throughout the day with
seven to nine ads airing every two to five hours. However, the time schedule for the ads
changed according to gross rating points, or listenership. That is, most radio ads that


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promoted casino gambling aired primarily during the morning and supper drive times
rather than during the evening hours when the overall audience declined. So, projecting
this sample of 2007 data to the previous year, we estimate that about 8600 radio
commercials likely aired during 2006, and that the weekly market reach and air time
pattern for 2006 advertising likely approximated the 2007 weekly distribution pattern
although there were slight variations when special campaigns were promoted. We
emphasize that this is a rough estimate based on partial information received from the
casino operator.
Almost all radio ads (94.8%) utilized male voiceovers that promoted gambling
and introduced upcoming live performances and events: Where poker is so popular, we
built a new poker room for players! and Chilliwack is coming to your new Casino
Nova Scotia!. Although female voiceovers were deployed in only 3 of the 58 ads
(5.2%), they too primarily introduced performers and events: Live the thrill on New
Years Eve with free fun and excitement for everyone at Casino Nova Scotia or Casino
Nova Scotia proudly presents Nearly Neil. The intended audience of these ads was not
usually gender specific. One exception was the commercial Ladies Only that directed
women to Plan a ladies only weekend at your new Casino Nova Scotia and informed
them that Well provide free gaming lessons in an attempt to attract more female
players to the casino. This was also the only ad that indicated whether or not the casino
was being promoted to beginners or established gamblers. None of the radio ads overtly
employed sex as a means of promotion.
Almost six out of every ten radio commercials were fast paced. An environment
of anticipation and excitement was created through hurried speech and intense music. For


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example, the voiceover in the ad Pyjamas instructed listeners that when you stay and
play at your new Casino Nova Scotia, pack your pyjamas you might need them.
Maybe. Loud, energetic music played throughout the commercial, which ended with the
voiceovers exhorting listeners to Live the Thrill. However, two out of five of the ads
(43.1%) utilized a more contemplative pace to catch and hold the attention of the listener.
Some commercials, for example, maintained a quiet melodic pace and tone in order to
mimic performers whose music genre in the ads was light rock or soul. Phrases such as
Join us for an intimate evening or Soulful, sexy, sensual were spoken in quiet
seductive tones, while soft music pulsated in the background and suggested the sultry
nature of the casino milieu.
On average, each radio ad contained seventy spoken words. Nine out of ten
utilized a neutral language style in their presentational format. These ads were primarily
informational in nature indicating who was performing, where, when and at what cost:
Casino Nova Scotia proudly presents former front man for the super group Moist
David Usher Two nights of hit after hit after hit August 11
th
and 12
th
for as low as
94 dollars per person plus HST. Still other ads employed conversational argot (8.6%) in
their messages. Words such as whoa, buddy, and two boxers goin toe to toe mano-
a-mano just forty bucks utilized informal diction to produce a more casual-style ad
that would appeal to a youthful male audience. In all of the ads, music was played either
as background effect, or as the sound anchor for the ads discursive message. Some ads
began by playing the most well-known song of an upcoming casino performer: Patio
Lanterns by Kim Mitchell or Tell it to My Heart by Taylor Dayne. By including a
recognizable song in its content, the ad helped the audience to identify the performer by


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music rather than name and indirectly linked a celebrity to casino gambling. Music was
also used as a backdrop to the voiceovers and took the form of simple melodies rather
than loud vocals. Typically, the signature instrumental music of the casino was played in
the ads that promoted Stay and Play, a package that included overnight hotel stays and
gambling coupons. Not surprisingly, ambient sounds (44.8%) were intermixed with
music to encourage trips to the casino. Here the sounds of slot machines, card shuffling,
holiday horns, boxing ring bells, audience applause, and customers cheers were
deployed to set a joyful mood and to invite listeners to participate in the diversity of
casino gambling and entertainment.
Responsible gambling messages were not central to casino radio commercials;
ninety-one percent of the ads did not contain them. This may be because the majority of
the ads promoted the casino as a site of entertainment. Nevertheless the casino
environment is primarily a gambling venue and the entertainment events are part and
parcel of the casino complex, so it was surprising to hear so few cautionary messages on
the radio. In two ads that promoted entertainment (New Years Eve Party) and gambling
(Texas hold em and a chance to win cash prizes), the caveat Must be 19 years of age or
older was included. However the ads that promoted the casino as a gambling venue and
offered free gaming lessons and a new poker room for players did not include
responsible gambling messages for their listeners. The actual odds of winning at
gambling were also not mentioned in any of the radio ads, and only a few informed the
listener of the likelihood of winning: you have a chance to win one of ten 500 dollar
cash prizes just by visiting the casino or reminded them that last year Casino Nova


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Scotia paid out over 800,000 dollars on New Years Eve, without, however indicating
the costs to consumers may have exceeded payouts.
All of the radio ads promoted the excitement of the casino in their messages to the
listening audience. They informed the audience of live shows by famous performers and
encouraged audience anticipation with phrases such as The place to be, The crowd
cries for more and more, Call the babysitter and put your party shoes on, and Thrills.
Chills. Incredible. Radio ads promised to assist listeners to Live the Thrill and
encouraged them to forget the humdrum of everyday life. Pride and loyalty were also
emotions articulated in the messages of one in five of the ads. Consumers were
encouraged to Be there to cheer on some of Nova Scotias finest boxers, watch them
versus the US Marines, or more generally to Discover the Maritimes all over again.
One notable radio campaign that ran from May 15 to September 6, 2006 on six different
radio stations connected casino events to historical heritage and pride in community. Six
ads were aired 3,150 times in partnership with NewCap Radio, a major Canadian
broadcasting company. Each ad highlighted participating partners (historical sites, art
galleries, and water parks, etc.), and ended with the caption in partnership with Casino
Nova Scotia. The lexicon in the ads emphasized local events, provincial pride, and
community loyalty and encouraged listeners to go to www.holidayhere.ca for a complete
list of Maritime attractions and special discounts. This website, in turn, contained a
casino ad which promoted the luxury living possibilities of gambling and stressed the
entertainment value of visiting casinos to consumers. It featured a young couple dressed
up in plush robes enjoying breakfast in bed while images at the margins of the
commercial reminded the listener cum viewer to take note of the special entertainment


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acts including live artistic performances and new exciting poker games available at the
casino. This internet commercial advised customers to download the ad and receive an
additional $5 slot ticket to use at the casino. Such ads encouraged listeners to take pride
in their Maritime Roots and subtly reminded them that the casino was part of that
heritage.
Two dominant messages predominated in the radio ads. First, 54 of the 58
commercials promoted the fun value of the casino, two emphasized the pleasure of
playing and wagering on the games proper, and two others (3.4%) combined
entertainment with gambling as their sales pitch. Second, four out of every five ads
signified the message that casino gambling and entertainment was a regular and natural
component of consumer culture in Nova Scotia (Table 23).
The overwhelming majority of the radio ads evoked and promoted the feel good
atmosphere of the casino as a site of consumer consumption. The sales appeal was mostly
to luxury living, fine dining, attractive shows and only occasionally on how to play or
enjoy the games. In fact, only four ads (6.9%) highlighted winning cash or prizes from
gambling activities. Most reminded listeners that the casino was a site of pleasure that
offered comedy, music, impressionists, hypnotists, and acrobatics to name a few. One
voiceover in one ad wryly asked: Las Vegas style shows, concerts, comedy, showgirls.
Theyre all here at your new casino Nova Scotia. Why arent you? Several ads even
included media reviews from well known entertainment authorities to reinforce the fun
ethic of the casino: The Vancouver Sun said he brought the house down, A laugh a
second says CBC radio, Theyre what VH1 said made rock really roll, and Max is
Elvis resurrected raved Billboard music. The ads tended to be earmarked to those who


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were young and outer-directed, echoing messages to those wanting to achieve or to
belong to a newly sanctioned lifestyle that had once been forbidden or hidden. As one
ad, New Years Day, put it: The party never ends at Casino Nova Scotia. By framing
gambling around entertainment the commercials effectively destigmatized gambling and
at the same time made financial losses seem expected, unremarkable, and even
peripheral to gambling activity (Cavion, Wong & Zangeneh., 2008:100).
Over eighty percent of the radio ads (N=48) helped to normalize casino gambling.
Several commercials were positioned with established media outlets and consumer
sponsors to promote the message that casino gambling was clean fun, and to firmly
implant the idea that gambling was an expected feature of everyday life, something to be
enjoyed and embraced, and not worried about. These outlets and sponsors were brought
into the content of many of the ads which usually featured Home and Away versions.
The Home ads, often presented in partnership with local radio stations, such as C100,
Kool 96.5, 920 CJCH, Country 101 and Q104, announced the entertainment events at the
casino and provided phone numbers for consumers to order tickets. The Away ads,
promoted the Stay & Play deal, where a live show plus a night at a participating hotel
could be purchased from as low as dollars a person and provided listeners with a
toll-free telephone number to purchase the package deals. Other ads encouraged listeners
to spend their holidays at the casino: Celebrate Canada Day weekend at your new
Casino Nova Scotia or Live the thrill on New Years Eve with free fun and excitement
for everyone at Casino Nova Scotia. These ads promoted gambling as a normal
consumption option around which consumers could celebrate seasonal festivities
throughout the year and enjoy gambling every day of the week.


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Communicating by Television
Casino Nova Scotia aired two full-scale television commercials during 2006: Live
The Thrill and Stay And Play, and one short five second ad introduction as part of a
local ATV news segment which announced Take 5 is brought to you by Casino Nova
Scotia. This short sponsorship ad aired 95 times from August 21 to December 31, 2006,
but it lacked message content and was not analyzed. The two full-scale ads, however,
contained ample data for analysis. They aired on three local television stations - ATV,
ASN, and GLOBAL. We obtained exposure profiles for ATV and ASN showings, but
not for GLOBAL. These ads also appeared on a dedicated channel on Eastlink, a local
cable provider with a household audience reach of 219,000. This advertising format
allowed consumers to view current television listings 24 hours a day 7 days a week on the
left hand of the screen, and permitted advertisers to place full broadcast-quality
commercials on the right of the screen (Eastlink, 2007). Unfortunately, no Eastlink
exposure profiles were available for analysis, so the frequency of play, timing and
duration is unknown for this television channel.
The two Casino Nova Scotia ads aired at least 553 times in 2006: 156 times on
ATV, 136 times on GLOBAL, 8 times on ASN, and at least 253 bonus spots featured
the ads on CTV or ASN (Table 24). These bonus spots were provided as either free
airtime, or were offered to replace scheduled commercials that for one reason or another
were preempted. Unfortunately, a detailed record of these bonus spots also was not
available, so a complete breakdown by television stations was not possible. However, we
do know that Live The Thrill aired at least 259 times, while Stay And Play aired at least
41 times. We can not show the exact pattern for the ads in the 253 bonus spots, but we


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can say that the majority of these commercials were Live The Thrill, since this ad aired
from May to October, whereas Stay And Play ran only in January. While data about
advertising on GLOBAL was also limited, we were able to determine that Stay And Play
aired at least 7 times from January 15 January 20, and Live The Thrill aired at least 91
times from June 3 June 25, and 28 times from August 21 - October 25. The exposure
profiles for the 164 ads that aired on ATV and ASN followed a similar pattern. The
majority aired during three campaign launches: January (24 ads); May/June (74 ads); and
September/October (66 ads). So, casino advertising was strategic and campaign focused.
Unlike print or radio advertising, it was not dispersed or distributed evenly throughout the
year.
Additional data on the ads from ATV and ASN was available, but not from
GLOBAL. So the characterization of advertising frequency, programming and timing is
necessarily incomplete, although we have no reason to assume that GLOBAL ads
followed a different pattern. Based on the limited data available, the type of television
program most likely to include a casino ad was news shows (47.7%), followed by talk
shows (22.6%) and dramas (15.2%). Quiz shows, comedies, soap operas, and music and
dance related shows accounted for the remaining 14.5 percent of ad placements (Table
25). Not surprisingly, the three most frequent ad air times (6:00 a.m., 5:00 p.m., and
11:30 p.m.) overlapped with the news programming timetable. Two-thirds of programs
containing casino ads were one hour in length, 20 percent were thirty minutes in duration
and 11 percent ran for ninety minutes or longer. While it was not possible to obtain an
exact daily breakdown of airings, the overwhelming majority of the ads played on
weekdays (88.4%), rather than weekends (9.8%). Fourteen percent aired everyday of the


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week and only two percent aired in a combination of weekend and weekday spots. Like
the print ads, television casino commercials clustered in mid to end of week showings to
coincide with pay days and the high levels of consumer purchasing that typically
accompany weekend spending.
The two casino advertisements differed significantly in tone and content. The 54
words in the Stay And Play ad included the usual male voiceovers that deployed a
language idiom that was neither conversational nor specialized but which was emotional,
energetic and exuberant. The characters featured in the ad were two male and two female
card players and a dealer all between the ages of 19 and 35; one player was of colour.
This ad signified the regular gambler who knew the game rules, body language and
betting strategies to convey the impression that the casino environment was both
comfortable and friendly to all manner of people. On the other hand, Live The Thrill did
not deploy voiceovers; information frames drifted across the screen and the commercial
used text and image rather than voice to convey messages of persuasion. Twenty-five
attractive, young adults were featured in this ad, two of whom were members of visible
minorities. These people, the majority of whom were young women, were not simply
portrayed as gambling in the casino; instead they were shown eating, drinking, dancing
seductively, and being entertained by Vegas type show girls and impressionists. The ad
was a direct and rather obvious attempt to appeal to a primarily young, male audience,
and to encourage them to come on down and enjoy the exciting casino scene that was
about both gambling and entertainment.
The Stay And Play ad was bright, fast paced and colourful. Thirty-three frames
were scanned into 30 seconds of airtime that combined and contrasted medium and close-


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ups of body images intersected with intermittent flashing lights. High-speed music
pulsed in the background, muffling the numerous ambient sounds normally heard on the
casino floor. The camera work embellished the sentimental and the seductive and
included close-ups of hands drawing chips, placing bets, dealing cards, and accepting
coupons in an apparent effort to connect the viewer to the gambling action and dramatize
the excitement of casino play. The people in the ad were portrayed as glamorous and
content; constant smiles and laughter evinced the mood that the casino was a wonderful
place to spend time with family and friends. The voiceover reminded the audience of the
Stay and Play deals: one low price, a choice of hotels, and free coupons to use on the
gambling floor. This ad emphasized the pleasures of playing the games: the exhilaration
of craps, the joy of roulette, and the competition of card games. It evoked the feeling that
gambling was in itself fun and exciting! The hallmarks of the ads included thumbs-up
gestures, sage nods, smiling eyes and exhilarating bodies which signified in text and
image the message that winning, wealth and luxury followed casino players like a
honeymoon followed a wedding, and encouraged a set of positive connotations about an
activity that had once been forbidden.
The Stay And Play ad was replaced by the Live The Thrill commercial, which
ran from May through October of 2006. It too was 30 seconds in duration, fast-paced,
brightly coloured, emphasized glamour and excitement and highlighted images of
roulette, cards and slots. The ad contained thirty-one frames that were alternately rapid
paced shots followed by blank frames indexing short white taglines against a green
background. The rather slow motion ocular scenario was contrasted with pulsating music;
the same signature sound featured in the Stay and Play ad. But the fun of playing was


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secondary in the Live The Thrill commercial; instead entertainment in the form of fine
dining, designer drinking, and Las Vegas live shows such as Elvis impersonators and
cabaret showgirls were fore grounded. The main focus was to acquaint the audience with
the new casino and to promote its new owners by stimulating excitement about the
services and attractions in the renovated casino. This message was implanted through
repeated exposures using a high concentration of ad placements and maintaining
maximum awareness by emphasizing the sexual and sensual appeal of the casino
environment. Now, its a whole new deal; New look, New style and Feel; and
Weve raised the ante on excitement were the text taglines that anchored the messages
of persuasion.
One theme that emerged from these television commercials was that the casino
was both an exciting gambling venue, as well as a place of live entertainment and
friendly socialization. The casino was portrayed as a winners site; it was not a place for
losers. The two ads suggested that the casino offered conviviality and camaraderie that
staved off isolation and loneliness. The casino, the ads suggested, inspired fateful
encounters, fun-filled days and appealing nights where being a success was assured and
where escape from the routines of everyday life was available.
Another message that dominated the discourse of these two commercials was that
the casino was a sensual place of relatively youthful consumption. Only young people
were present as characters in the television ads. The visual images evoked a world of
fantasy that combined sexuality with youthfulness in an apparent effort to recruit new
consumers and build into the casino products the very traits consumers would like to see
in themselves. Thus, the themes of fun and excitement were connected to the desires for


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romance and gracious living, as evinced primarily in the imagination of male customers.
Highly sexualized images of women were the capstone of casino television advertising.
Camera positions and close-up pans focused on womens legs, breasts and faces. One
scene included a young woman gyrating on the casino floor, playing with her hair and
kissing at the camera as if to say to the viewer, this time without circumspection or
delicacy, that a roll in the hay might be just as likely as a roll of the dice!
The Point of Sale Pitch
Casino Nova Scotia has point of sale outlets in Sydney and Halifax. In 2006, the
Halifax casino had 34,000 square feet of gaming floor which included 702 slot machines,
40 table games, and an eight-table poker room. The Halifax casino employed 670 people
and in that same year, 1.3 million customers passed through the premise. The Sydney
location is smaller in size with a gaming floor area of 15,000 square feet that included
three-hundred and eighty slot machines, ten table games and a two-table poker room.
Two-hundred and four people were employed there in 2006, and visitors numbered
575,142. Point of sale advertisements were located at both locations. These ads were
viewed by casino patrons at almost any time of the day or day of the year. Formats
included posters, slot toppers, pamphlets, and banners that promoted slots, roulette,
poker, blackjack, player club specials, restaurants and entertainment acts booked
exclusively for the casinos. Indeed, the casino buildings themselves were point of sale
advertisements, especially at night, when their unique architectures, neon signs and
flashing lights called attention to where the action was happening.
Of the 264 casino point of sale ads we analyzed 81 percent (N=215) used human
images as attention grabbers. Experiencing the fun ethic was the main theme in these ads,


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and as with television ads dining, drinking, gambling and entertainment were
commonplace images. Gender differences did not exist in the point of sale ads; of the 509
human images deployed in the signage, 259 were male while 250 were female. However,
women were more likely to be depicted as young attractive players or patrons while men
were often portrayed as entertainers that performed at the casino. Ethnic images rarely
appeared in the ads; fully 92 percent (N=467) of the human figures were depicted as
Caucasian compared to eight percent of African (N=20), Asian (N=21), or East Indian
(N=1) descent. Ninety-two percent (N=468) of the ads also portrayed images of youthful
players between the ages of 19 and 35 in the point of sale signage. These depictions
included young lovers out for an evening of dining and gambling, young women who
just wanted to have fun together at the casino, and young men playing slots or table
games. While a youth oriented consumption culture was the advertising target, there were
a few poster campaigns that emphasized older age groups such as Being 50+ has its
rewards!: half price breakfasts on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays. But these were
occasional messages. Middle-aged Helen from Port Morien, who is advertised as a
real-life lottery winner, did not usually make an appearance on the casino floor in the
imagery of the casino ads.
Like so much gambling advertising, the point of sale ads also used bold, brilliant
colours that were dramatic, attractive and evocative in design and text. They were often
large with glossy, reflective surfaces. Indeed, poster headlines, such as Players Club
Point Sale, Great Canadian Giveaway and New Rewards! were typically
highlighted in large, contrasting lettering to attract attention and to promote winning. For
example, on one poster, Lucky Ladies Blackjack, two queens of hearts were portrayed


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as vibrant comic-like caricatures holding dazzling red hearts framed by equally vivid
green four leaf clovers symbolizing luck. The announcement CASH PRIZES displayed
catchy bright yellow and red lettering to send the obvious message of potential gains that
was, in turn, reinforced by the picture of a man in the background of the ad reaching for
his winning chips. Other point of sale ads relied on images more so than words. For
example, most of the ad Sunglasses was framed to depict several pairs of dark sunglasses
with the caption What will you wear to our new poker room? in smaller letters below
it.
With the exception of several commercials that indicated hours of operation
during holidays, such as Easter or Remembrance Day, for example, the majority of the
264 point of sale ads were designed with excitement in mind (70%). The casino was
repeatedly signified as place of consumption pleasure, where the joy of winning was
commonplace. For example, the ad Vacation showed a couple on a beach complete with
blue sky, tropical waters and sand. The woman was sitting on the shoulders of the man
with her arms raised in celebration. Their exuberance was revealed by their wide open,
smiling mouths. The caption read Play Your Way To Paradise! Other ads played on the
excitement of entertainment that was only available at the casino. For instance, the ad
Free Outdoor Concert advertised free entertainment in the Casino Nova Scotia parking
lot. An image of a well-known local musician in the middle of a fiery guitar solo was
central to this ad with the caption More. Real. Live. Excitement placed over his head.
Unlike radio ads, casino point of sale ads designated responsible gambling
messages in almost seventy percent of the 264 ads. They consistently emphasized that
Casino Nova Scotia proudly supports responsible gambling and instructed consumers


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to Know your limits and Pay responsibly, but as with the lottery point of sale ads,
these caveats were not a significant feature in either the form or the structure of the
casino ads. They were typically placed at the bottom of the ad and framed in small white
lettering that was neither attention drawing nor attention holding.
Several themes dominated these point of sale ads: entertainment/consumer culture
(N=173), normalization (N=115), winning (N=79), and sexualized imagery (N=65)
(Table 26). Not surprisingly the point of sale ads also promoted gambling as part of a
broader consumer experience (65.5%). One ad, All Inclusive, stated: Whether youre
looking for an exciting evening of gaming and local entertainment or a leisurely
afternoon meal, WE HAVE IT ALL! An integrated social entertainment package was
marketed to casino patrons on the gambling floor. These ads exhorted consumers to enjoy
a night out: wine and dine, watch celebrity performers, and listen to live music. One
emphasized: Food friends fun a winning combination! Another displayed downward
angle shots of a showgirl, a winning gambler, and a chef. The caption intoned: Live.
Excitement, Thrilling Slots, Exciting Table Games, Fantastic Food and depicted
the casino as Your Entertainment Destination. The ads that focused on gambling per se
also dramatized the social effects of casino visits to on-floor visitors (28.7%). For
example, Ladies Night Poker invited female viewers to consider the value of bringing
your girlfriends for an evening of free lessons and/or live games. By connecting
gambling to entertainment the ads proclaimed that the odds of having a great time are
definitely in your favour. Players in the casino were regularly reminded that they could
redeem Players Points in order to obtain Great Gifts, or see Spectacular Shows. So,
the message in many of the ads was the more you played the more free merchandise


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and free entertainment you could procure, especially if you part of the IN Crowd as
one ad boldly put it.
These entertainment images also attempted to legitimate the casino as a site for
the pleasure of consumption and the consumption of pleasure (43.5%). The language of
the ads emphasized the common place character of gambling with taglines such as
Every day is a party, Everyday winners, Win great summer prizes every Wednesday
and Thursday, Enjoy new thrills every day all summer long, and Win daily prizes.
Holidays, the ads declared, were especially best spent at the casino. As with the print ads,
consumers were encouraged to celebrate Canada Day, New Years Day, Fathers Day,
Mothers Day, Valentines Day, St. Patricks Day, and birthdays in the company of cards,
dice and slots. The casino even offered a consumption option for weary shoppers around
Christmas time: from November 1 to December 31 consumers could use their Players
Club points to purchase gift certificates from local merchants! Like the lottery point of
sale ads, the casino commercials also sponsored charities and events such as the Buskers,
the East Coast Music Awards, and Christmas Daddies, and promoted corporate
connections with companies such as Pierceys, KOOL FM, River Rock Casino Resort,
94.9 The Cape, M&M Meats, Central Building Supplies, and the Delta Hotel to name
several so that visitors to the casino could appreciate the community connections and
cultural embeddedness of gambling. Taken together, these images and captions, whether
on billboards, screens or posters naturalized the casino environment as a standard
consumer site. The advertisements stressed the fun ethic: exciting adventures under the
casino dome where gambling was no different than any other form of entertainment, or
where it was a conduit for other types of entertainment such as listening to music,


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watching magicians or following sports events. The casino was the place for material and
social winners, where as one ad put it: The more you visit, the better your chances.
Indeed, the idea of winning cash and prizes was visible in about one in three of
the point of sale ad messages (29.9%). Monetary awards, between $500 and $1,000,000,
were highlighted as available prizes. To signify this theme of wins, winning and winners
some ads portrayed previous real winners with large quantities of cash in their hands:
Marie won $2500! and this was just part of $757,971 won that week. Others
portrayed jackpots as seductive combinations of cash and prizes. One ad, for example,
displayed a woman with her arms raised and her eyes shut, unable to contain her
excitement about the fact that Over $40,000 in CASH and PRIZES! were available
some of which she had apparently won. Still other ads were less direct and subtle: Win a
share of $85,980.34, Win cash, or Win cash prizes, leaving the consumer with his or
her imagination to fill in the amounts in the ads. For example, one ad showed a young
woman winning at slots. She raised her arms in the air and yelled in celebration, but her
win was not revealed inviting the viewing audience to engage with her and imagine the
size of her jackpot. The casino ads frequently offered point of sale patrons chances to win
merchandise as well as money. Like radio and television ads these goods and services
included holidays at international destinations, trips to other casino resorts, gift
certificates, free meals, local getaways, free entertainment, guitar prize packages, NHL
jerseys, television sets, leather chairs, leather jackets, Xboxes, casino coupons, BBQs,
patio furniture, free casino parking, free gambling, free player lessons and VIP weekends
at the Casino Nova Scotia.


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In one-quarter of the point of sale ads, sexualized images of young women were
used to frame attention in the messages (24.6%). Typically women were dressed in
revealing clothes, reminiscent of ads for on-line dating sites. The ad Martini Night
showed three attractive young women sitting in a casino with martinis in hand. The
caption read: Some games are played away from the tables and suggested to an on-site
audience that there was more to win than the money or prizes at the roulette table.
Another ad, Pokers Not Just For Men Anymore, challenged the idea of the male
domination of poker by playing on womens freedom to encourage the latter to take up
the game. Ironically, however, the ad displayed and deployed traditional sexualized
images of young women in low-cut dresses, seemingly equipped to seductively advertise
their new found freedoms. Women were portrayed as gamblers in the ads although there
were several occasions when they were depicted as passive consumers. For example,
several ads portrayed women in a traditional role as cheerleaders. One ad showed an
elderly man with a stack of chips in front of him, and two young women seductively
watching his performance; the caption intoned The Night is Also Young. As with
casino television ads, Los Vegas showgirls were typically represented in the point of sale
ads found on the casino floor. These women wore revealing wardrobes, dangling beads,
colourful feathers, fishnet stockings, low-cut tops and high cut skirts. In several of the ads
high downward camera angles shot the bodies of showgirls and focused in on their
breasts for sexual effect. One ad did include a sexualized male image: Ladies Night
Poker invited consumers to receive free poker lessons before or after tonights
Chippendales experience! Below the caption was a picture of a muscular man in tight


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leather pants with only a small vest covering his bare chest. But even in this ad, several
provocative images of women were included alongside the main male character.
In sum, the casino operator provided partial exposure data for 2006, but was
unwilling to provide total media expenditures for that year. Nevertheless, we analyzed
367 casino ads that were archived by the operator from January 1, 2006 to December 31,
2006. The dominant message of the ads was entertainment focused; gambling as a new,
exciting, and popular cultural experience was presented in about 7 out of 10 commercials.
This was followed by the normalization of gambling; 55 percent of the ads portrayed
gambling as an acceptable, fun-filled leisure activity to be enjoyed and revered. Finally,
the monetary benefits of gambling appeared in 25 percent of the 367 ads and emphasized
the subthemes that winning is possible, there are many winners and winnings are
large and substantial. These themes, especially the entertainment consumption value of
gambling were reinforced by the use of sexualized images in the print and point of sale
ads to convey the idea that casinos were luxurious places of pleasure where the rich and
successful met to enjoy their prosperity and companionship and satisfy their wishful get-
rich-quick dreams. Almost seventy percent of the casino ads contained a responsible
gambling message know your limits, play responsibly but the signage was small in
print and/or short-lived in duration.
Advertising casinos as a form of communication in Nova Scotia encouraged
people to believe that outcomes rather than the probabilities of chance were more
important. The seductive dream world of the casino and its games, dense with symbols of
affluence, consumption and pleasure overshadowed the real world of gambling with its
diminutive opportunities for actually winning jackpots at slot machines or at table games.


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As Griffiths (2005:20) notes, using glitz, glamour and gain to sell gambling as
entertainment invites persistent charges of dubious advertising because there is rarely any
information about odds of losing in the thousands of words and images of advertising.
While it might be argued that casino commercials are selling dreams that no one believes
and everyone knows are excessive, it might also be argued that entertainment value need
not tempt people to escape into unlikely fantasies or stimulate possessive individualism
by emphasizing personal gain and transformation, glamorized sexuality and sexual
adventures, conspicuous consumption or new lifestyles of leisure and luxury. Perhaps,
genuine entertainment advertising and promotion could stress more humble possibilities
for self-expression, self-realization, and social reciprocity in gambling that is more honest
and diverse and less a matter of puffery (Binde, 2008:17-19).


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Off Shore, Internet Television Advertising
The internet houses many of the poker and blackjack sites that offer off-shore
products to Nova Scotians. These websites use flashy colours, bold texts and sounds,
attractive software programs with state of the art graphics, good infrastructures, efficient
banking and on-line accounting systems, loyalty schemes, banner adverts, rewarding
sweepstakes, and tournaments to attract consumer attention, appeal to fundamental
emotions for gambling and profile particular company brands and products (Zangeneh et
al., 2008:144-147; Dyall, Tse & King, 2007:8-9). On-line gambling has become an
accepted and even fashionable form of wagering that now generates world wide revenues
of about US$ 15-18 billion from known registered sites and several more billion from so-
called wild websites that are not licensed or regulated (Stewart, 2006; Cert Lexsi,
2006). From the comfort of their homes and workplaces, gamblers can now log on to
several thousand registered websites to play casino, card and lottery games and wager on
global sports events with greater convenience, anonymity, information and adventure,
and fewer opportunities for personal and social stigma (Griffiths, 2003).
The newness of e-gambling often requires that remote operators combine several
marketing strategies to build loyalty and maintain consumers in a growing, competitive
market place. The need to build trust, reliability and security, and convey this confidence
to customers is paramount for internet sites. Trust tokens are mobilized by the promotion
of good hardware and software packages that are continuously reviewed and updated for
customers and backed up with promotional campaigns that offer free gambling as a way
of creating and expanding player databases world wide. So-called play money
websites, for example, provide operators with opportunities to compile lists of current


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clients in order to deploy directed marketing campaigns for them to join real money
sites and use their own celebrities to build brand loyalty (Lipton & Weber, 2006). As
Zangeneh et al. (2008:146) rightly observe, companies that build a brand successfully
will almost certainly come to dominate Internet gambling in the future.
Profiling of both products and customers are also routinely deployed to amplify
the attractiveness of an operators own product and to capture, target and maintain
desired customers. First, marketing constructs a products set of distinctive features and
then bridges the gap between an ideal image of fulfillment that a player may have in her
or his mind and the prosaic gambling products themselves. Thus, an on-line blackjack
tournament is a competition to visit a free tropical paradise, or visiting a poker site and
learning to play is the launching of a promising professional career (Binde, 2008:5-6).
Second, electronic data collection and information communication systems log, record,
track, classify and store their customers habits so as to eventually profile and target them
for further commercial gambling activities or new product consumption. While some of
this consumer surveillance may be a form of consensual advertising where information
and contact is willingly provided, in other cases it may be covert and gleaned from other
databases without the gamblers knowledge or approval. In any event, the technology to
sift, evaluate, categorize, and redeploy vast quantities of personal information now allows
on-line gambling operators to build up detailed digital selves of individual customers,
configure virtual networks of customers populations and tailor their services to their
personal and collective tastes and interests (Zangeneh et al., 2008:146). Finally, the
spread of internet sites and the volume of gambling programming in the media has led to


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the proliferation of gambling commercials that can be found almost everywhere,
including print and radio, but especially on the internet and television.
In order to see how off-shore companies marketed internet card-based products to
Nova Scotians, we developed a six month study and uncovered 64 ads that broadcast for
509 hours of air time on 461 different television programs. At eleven television networks
the majority of television programs that were recorded, showing mostly poker and
blackjack gambling from remote venues, were dedicated gambling type shows (33.4%),
sports shows (30.2%), dramas (12.6%), entertainment shows (7.8%) and comedies (7.2%)
(Table 27). Of the 461 television shows, the top four in terms of frequency were
programs that highlighted poker: Poker After Dark (7.2%), Poker Super Stars (3.9%),
Ultimate Poker Challenge (3%) and World Heads Up Poker Championship (3%). These
television programs promoted competitive tournaments, elite players, and television
celebrities, introduced and reviewed hand rankings, bluffing strategies, and betting
options, offered large prizes to participants, and emphasized a winning mentality to
prospective players. They drew heavily upon sports-related images and effectively
packaged poker and blackjack as an everyday entertainment experience.
If we consider television broadcast vendors, one network (NBC) showed the
greatest percentage (18.7%) of the 461 programs that aired, followed closely by three a
sports channels: RSE (17.8%), SCR (14.3%), and TSN (11.1%) (Table 28). The air times
of the programs varied, but the most common showings were 8 p.m., 9 p.m., and 10 p.m.
with over half of these programs lasting an average of 60 minutes. Forty-four percent of
all television programs contained a gambling advertisement, averaging three ads per
program. In total, 57 (89%) of the 64 ads were produced by on-line gambling providers.


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Of the 19 different advertisers, 14 (73%) were on-line enterprises offering sites to learn
and play poker for free in what they called anonymous, convenient, and secure
environments. You can play in your pajamas opined a celebrity player in one
commercial, while another in a different ad emphasized that he did not have to wait in
line to play because he had access to thousands of tables on-line.
Overall there were 904 showings of the 64 gambling commercials with each one
lasting about 30 seconds in length. The air time of these ads varied over a 24 hour period.
The majority of ads aired between 8 p.m. and midnight (40%), followed by midnight to 4
a.m. (24.6%), 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. (18.7%), noon to 4 p.m. (14%), and 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.
(1.6%). No ads were captured between 8 a.m. and noon (Table 29). The median time of
day that the ads aired was 5:55 p.m. Ten of the sixty-four ads accounted for over half of
all commercial airtime (54.6%). These highly repetitive ads typically featured celebrity
players to market and promote brand allegiance and customer loyalty to internet sites in
the face of spirited competition (Jones, 1998). Repeated exposure of images or messages
or both was deployed to create familiarity, comfort and preference with particular
gambling products and their sponsors. For example, the most popular commercial, Greg
Raymer Wearing Funny Eyeglasses, portrayed a famous poker player exposing his
secrets for better play to the viewers. It was aired sixty-nine times over the six months
and it profiled gambling products with a particular lifestyle. In contrast, the commercial
Win $2000 Every Month was informative advertising that made the audience aware of a
free on-line poker site and it aired only once during the entire sample period.
The most frequent corporate advertiser was FullTiltPoker.net who accounted for
almost thirty percent of the remote advertising action (Table 30). Their strategy was to


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provide recurring visuals and voiceovers of novice gamblers playing alongside
professional gamblers; their tagline was: To learn, chat, and play with the pros go to
FullTiltPoker.net. Many of these advertisements signified that new on-line players could
become close and trusted friends with experts if they heeded their advice. The ads
encouraged the idea that to sell gambling you needed authority figures to invest products
with credibility, an approach that has been proven to be effective with other products and
with adolescent viewers. For example, the commercial Advised To Fold constructed a
vignette in which a player was learning the game of poker. He knocked on a celebritys
door late at night, with one of the worst hands in poker, called him by his first name, told
him he had taken a pre flop middle position with the two and seven of spades after
calling the blind, and solicited his advice. A second celebrity came over looked at the
cards, shook his head, tore the cards up and quickly walked away, whereupon the first
celebrity told the player that he should have folded. The novice backed out of the house
awkwardly with an awestruck and appreciative thanks! The encounter was framed as
warm, relaxed and trusting, just what one might expect from a long lasting friendship and
future mentorship.
Other advertisements signified an assertive rite of reversal message: new players
were encouraged to believe that they could actually beat professional gamblers at their
own game. In the commercials Dress Like Me, I Call and There Is Always Another
Hand beginners outplayed highly regarded poker players, while onlookers in the ads
eagerly cheered them on and the professionals swallowed their pride with dignity or
defiance. These types of commercials actively mobilized a bond of familiarity between
the average Joe player and the intended audience against the expert. They were


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constructed to draw the viewers into the event, inspire confidence, and then move them
on to the ceremony of celebration goading them to believe that even beginners can be
winners. They used emotions to focus attention, encourage motivation, and fix memory,
and mobilized contrast and similarity to suggest that ordinary people can lead other
ordinary people and be successful at gambling, an approach that has also been
particularly powerful with youthful consumers because it endorses the maxim that people
are more likely to be influenced by other people of a similar age and temperament (Walsh
& Gentile, 2007:10).
The second PokerStars.net (14.1%) and the fourth most frequent advertiser,
Bet21.net (7.8%), took a different approach. Rather than trying to make the viewer feel
the narrative of winning and constituting the audience in and by related images, sounds
and words, they relied on straight forward endorsements from celebrity gamblers to
advertise their services. These ads promoted and endorsed fame in order to induce
viewers to accept their gambling messages (Tellis, 2004: Walsh & Gentile, 2007). The
PokerStars.net commercials were introduced with piping music normally associated with
regal events; they called for immediate viewer and listener attention, as important
messages were forthcoming. The camera would next show the reigning poker stars with
the World Series of Poker Champion credentials posted below their names. The players
would then reveal particular mysteries of the games to their attentive subjects. Aspiring
players were depicted as awed by the skills of the famous, and the viewers eyes and ears
were simultaneously drawn to the brand names of poker play flashing across the screen.
The Bet21.net ads also portrayed famous players sparring, joking and talking animatedly
with each other as to who had the best game, the best face and the best moves. In


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one notable ad, Reeves Versus Williamson, Monica Reeves, a blackjack pro and Robert
Williamson III, a poker pro played to notions of youthful masculinity and femininity by
using a series of verbal stereotypes, suggestive gestures and seductive visuals to question
each others game and to poke fun across gender lines. Language and sign created an
ironical and oppositional circle of meaning and identity for viewers inviting them to
consider which subject position they preferred, the cocky male poker player who was
going to eliminate the nice girl at her own game or the kiss my bottom blackjack
beauty who was going to eliminate poker boy because he arrogantly assumed that
poker players were better than blackjack players. In another ad Vacuum Cleaning Up a
male celebrity player mused to a novice that poker chips were really symbols,
abstractions, but he went on, to a great player like Jennifer Harmon they are tools.
Watch the way she bullies the table by moving in her big stack against the resthe
says. But before he can teach the novice anything further a woman at Harmons signal
turned on a loud vacuum cleaner that drowned out the conversation, subverted the
tutelage effort in the ad, and parodied the very idea of a commercial communication. In
the last frame, however, the voiceover message reminded the viewers that if they really
wanted to learn how to play they should frequent the website, where the pros live.
Indeed almost two out of three of all advertisements promoted the credibility of star
players with skill, flair and playfulness and strove in their own right to provide viewers
with diversion, fantasy and entertainment. The power of similar commercials like Deeb
And Curtis, Einigan And Chan, and Laak And Stann was in the persuasive use of
authority figures, identification scenarios, virtual habitats, split screens, and catchy
linguistic tropes to encourage viewers to connect with a series of different portrayals of


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gambling linked to competition, pleasure, tutelage and camaraderie, making only low-key
references to the product usually in the final frame of the ads. The underlying logic of
this type of ad was to create a dramatic mood in the first 25 seconds of the ad, introduce
the product, and establish the emotional association culturally and preferably without the
audience realizing that they have been influenced by what they have seen or heard. As
Walsh and Gentile (2007:5) observe, some ads may have no logical connection to the
product but it does not matter for as long as the desired emotion is linked with the
product, the mission has been accomplished.
The types of gambling products most often put into advertisements were on-line
poker (71.9%) and on-line blackjack (12.5%) followed by lotteries (6.3%), sports betting
(4.7%), casino games (3.1%), and horse racing (1.6%). Although one in every five
commercials was slotted for a general audience, the main target was men (75%) between
the ages of 19 and 35 (67.2%) many of whom had gambled previously (46.9%). Less than
ten percent of the ads were aimed at females (9.4%). In fact, the average number of males
included in a commercial was seven, whereas the average number of females portrayed
was one (Table 31). In one commercial participating in casino gambling is likened to a
testosterone injection; in two others signing up for a poker tournament is only for men
who take risks and for those who play to bluff and in a fourth putting on a game face
is akin to readying for war, attack force delta. Consistent with the masculine visual
ethos was the deployment of voiceovers to establish mood and tonality: fully 84.4 percent
of voiceovers were males. Even the one commercial that focused exclusively on a
celebrated female poker player had a voiceover that stated, You could be the next Joe
Hachem or Chris Moneymaker rather than the next Isabelle Mercier. This advertisement


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signaled a simple message, a primarily male audience might enjoy gazing at female poker
players, but they would prefer males as gambling mentors.
While sexualized imagery of males was mostly absent in the ads, women were
sexualized in about eleven percent of the commercials. One ad Pinch featured a young
woman in a red bikini promoting an absolute dream package for poker play. She is
joined by a male (Scott) who cannot stop pinching himself because he won access to play
for millions of dollars in prize money. Scott suddenly pinches the womans bottom. She
cries out, smiles and tells Scott to pinch himself while simultaneously encouraging the
viewer to live the dream because this is for real! Another ad Testosterone Injection
featured a couple, Dave and Sharon in a casino hotel room enjoying sex. Dave looking
the worse for ware emerged from the bed and warned that if this kept up he was turning
in his man pants. He needed an immediate testosterone injection at the casino blackjack
tables, only then would he be able to return to the pleasure dome and be Sharons
unconditional love puppet. Sharon remained mostly faceless and voiceless in the ad,
covered up by the blankets and blissfully unaware of Daves deep desires.
Caucasians constituted the majority of visible faces in the advertisements. Of the
528 people shown in the commercials, 396 were Caucasian, 58 were African
American/Canadian, and 42 were Asian American/Canadian. As the age of the intended
audience increased, the more infrequent these age groups were in the advertisements:
Ages 19-35 (67.2%); Ages 36-60 (17.2%); Ages 60 and over (3.1%). However, this
pattern did not hold true for adolescents; they seemed to be the intended target in about
five percent of the commercials (4.7%). Nevertheless, there was a strategy prevalent that
indirectly promoted young adult players in the ads. For the most part, the advertisements


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presented a storyline that focused on youth and young adults as potential gamblers, and
cultivated a cool look for the gambling experience. For example, the commercial Laak
And Stann highlighted two young adult gamblers who were laden with cultural
signifiers; sleek clothes, hard talk, defiant hand gestures and gazes, and whose expressive
body language was dramatized and seductively serialized to move, excite, and exemplify
so as to make poker play attractive and appealing to potential youthful audiences. In the
commercial B Ball Picks, the ad lexicon evinced a slang-like sub-cultural quality; words
like hardwood rather than court, drop your B Ball picks, rather than place your
basketball bets, and still in the money rather than its not too late to place a bet were
conversational expressions that invited young players to appreciate the cool, coded life
world of the regular gambler.
Targeted males were also represented as established gamblers, (46.9%) in the
ads where further improving their game was the intended outcome of the commercials.
Phrases such as get better, learn more, and get greater were frequent verbal
inducements that promoted skills and conjured dreams; by practicing on particular
websites the ads proclaimed that anyone could be just like the legendary winners of poker
and blackjack. Those learning to gamble were also regularly targeted by the ads (32.8%).
Here commercials were equivalent to classroom scenarios offering recruitment
information, better betting instructions, social engineering skills, fraternity and
emblematic status with the pros. In one commercial, Chris Moneymaker, repeated the
word practice three times and the word free eight times in thirty seconds of airtime.
The visual syntax and the verbal language of the ads offered viewers vicarious status by
association and invited them to help constitute the media messages of recruitment and


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retention. The content engaged the audience through role-playing, satirical competition
and in-joking. It encouraged a seamless congruity between the environments in which
young people typically played sports, enjoyed vacations, and drank alcohol, and the
marketing strategies that used these coded references to perceptually re-circulate a
commonplace climate for gambling among young people even though consumption was
still a new or even an imagined practice.
In order to attract audiences, advertisers designed their commercials carefully.
The majority of frames, which averaged fifteen per commercial, dramatized close-up
camera positioning in 54 of the 64 ads evoking the emotional responses of gamblers and
the sentient features of their gambling technologies; cards, dice and chips were shuffled,
rolled, counted, stacked, and thrown in the air and on tables seductively to enjoin the
viewer to experience the eye, ear, hand, and body language of play as pots were pushed,
pulled and coddled to signal the promise and benefits of successful wagering. For
example, in the commercial I Call facial intensity was constructed and calibrated to
ensure that the viewers felt and knew the seriousness of the game being played and
the sincerity of the players actions even though the bluff was called and blown. Similarly
in Im All In and When Your Beat Your Beat, camera pans and close-ups fused the
facial expressions of gamblers with their inner thought process, inviting viewers to read
the players minds in order to understand how they managed their cards and perceived
their chances of winning or losing. And in Joe Hachems Brain, the crude pictorial
representation of the organ was deployed along with close-up images of Joe to signify
that gambling was cerebral and perfectible. When the camera positioning favored
medium shots, which occurred in 46 of the 64 ads, viewers were still drawn to the faces


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of famous personalities, but environments were also fore grounded for dramatic effect.
For instance, We Play For Large Pots encouraged the viewer to differentiate
professional from unknown gamblers by showing their different places of work and play
(the poker room, the kitchen, and the slaughterhouse), while simultaneously emphasizing
the consistently shared images of happiness and winning and disappointment and losing
across all fore grounded sites. Gambling was universal, the message seemed to say, but it
was still better to play at FullTiltPoker.net than anywhere else. Long camera shots that
stressed environment over people or objects were deployed in only 9 of the 64 ads and
they were usually combined with a medley of close up or medium frames. The
commercial Fast Track Your Pro Experience was typical. Here a baseball field with
trees and hills behind it was the main focus of the ad. But this frame faded as the camera
position turned to medium and close-up shots of gamblers carefully layering the casino
environment on to the baseball field, suggesting a link between sports and poker, and
highlighting the primacy of the felt table over the baseball diamond.
Overall, the ads evinced a steady preference for showing the facial and bodily
expressions of famous personalities and paid actors, indexing the competition and talent
of the players, and the potential entertainment value of games to be played by the viewing
audience. The commercial We Play To Bluff was especially forceful. Here the entire
visual focus was on freeing the images from the confines of the ad frame by cropping the
face from the nose to the hairline. The images featured the eyes of the characters that
looked past the audience opening up for consideration whatever the viewer imagined he
or she saw. The verbal anchorage, however, echoed the messages of self-expression,
freedom from constraint and what the future might be. The voiceover went on: we play


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to bluff, to bamboozle, beat and beguile, to dupe and delude, to suck in, sabotage, trap
and track, to hook and hoax, to fake, feign and fool and to do it all against the best. This
ad and others like it advanced a minor subtext of individual rebellion. For example, in the
commercial Laak And Stann a young poker player nicknamed the uni-bomber high
jinks with and then high kicks the bad boy of blackjack out of the camera frame. Their
body language signified a carefree attitude inviting the viewer to consider the message
What you see is what you get so take me as I am. This genre of advertisement
appropriated the tough-talking, no-nonsense trickster image and combined it with the
antinomian take your job and shove it attitude to appeal to viewers who conceived of
themselves as both competitive and put upon for pursuing a habit that they enjoyed.
However, unlike smoking and drinking commercials, this trove of rebellious images was
few in number, minor in connotative significance, and not generalized in the ads we
studied.
In addition to camera position, the pace of the advertisements based on frame
movement, speech communication, music and graphics, was also a way in which
advertisers communicated their messages to viewers. Fully half of the advertisements
were fast-paced. The commercials Win A Poker Game With A Famous Poker Player
and Play Poker On Television each displayed about two dozen frames embedded in
frantic voiceovers, frenetic high-speed moving graphics, and loud intense guitar music.
Similar to rock videos, the ambiance was raucous and the appeal was to a compendium of
bodily senses the exotic sight, sound and touch of gambling and the exciting promise of
winning. But, slow-paced ads were almost as frequent as fast-paced ones as was evident
in the commercials Luck and When You Are Beat You Are Beat. Here gamblers and


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their cards, chips, and dice were filmed in slow motion and the voiceover was deliberate
and reassuring. Soft music played quiet in the background. Playing poker and blackjack
was a warm cognitive experience calling out for studious observation, reflection, and
action. Additionally, a small number of ads contrasted slow paced with fast paced
features. These commercials used sudden transitions in order to dramatize messages and
attract the attention of viewers. For example, in the ad The Game Face fast camera
movements panned a room full of noisy crap players in a casino. When the camera
stopped to focus on one player and his direct conversation with the viewer, the noise was
abruptly ended. The gambling signs and symbols were faded out and the audience waited
in anticipation of the conversation. When the player finished talking to the viewer, the
gambling sights and noises were re-activated into the camera frames and the audience
was re-excited into the ads casino environment.
In order to constitute their message, advertisers relied on sound, colour, and
language. Music, electronically enhanced sounds, and ambient sounds were part and
parcel of many gambling commercials. Music was the most prevalent sound found in the
ads (90.6%), and was generally used as a backdrop to enhance action, emotion or mood.
For example, the music in the commercial Fast Track Your Pro Experience was soft,
somber and light during the first few seconds of the ad; however, when the camera action
changed to focus on gambling and gamblers, the music was transformed to hard, upbeat,
staccato-like riffs signifying that gambling was far more dramatic and gratifying than any
other type of sport action around. Ambient naturally occurring sounds were also frequent
in the ads (50.0%) and were typically produced to simulate the gambling environment.
For instance, in the commercials Im All In and We Play to Bluff the acoustics of chips


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and cards hitting the poker table were highlighted to increase the proximity of the viewer
to the game and to emphasize the sentient quality of play. Electronically enhanced sounds
were considerably less frequent (20.3%) in the commercials and were mostly used to
contrast or manipulate other sounds. An effective example of this was the ad Steroid
Injection. Here a needle was plunged into a bottle of steroids and the liquid was drawn
into a syringe. This rather noiseless procedure was suddenly acoustically enhanced with
the player driving the needle through several playing cards into the casino table to send
the powerful message that black jack play was like steroid use, all juiced up!
Colour was an important feature of the commercials although there was no
singular pattern of preference. Advertisements revealed use of bright (46.9%), dark
(31.3%), neutral (12.5%) or contrasting (9.4%) colours to signify mood and meaning for
their products. Almost half of the commercials deployed bright colors and graphic
displays for dramatic effect. For example, in the two Cursing commercials sixteen poker
players, each coded in vivid color schemes, were shown reacting to losing and winning.
The verbal anchorage in the ad referenced a dark mood of loss and disappointment but
the visual syntax highlighted brilliant positive red, blue, green and yellow hues that
became more prominent with each passing frame. The contrasting tones and pictures
effectively signified the risks, emotions and thrills associated with gambling and steered
the viewer to perceive the message as a whole. At the center of the flow of depicted
movement was the on-line player fixed at a computer, a still and clear, solid identity in a
world of vivid global image motion. Some ads went further and combined colorful
graphics with appeals to loyalty. For example, in the three Play For Team Canada ads a
large red and white Canadian flag was incorporated into every frame and used to urge


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viewers to show pride and display loyalty in participating at national and international
gambling events. In a mock up of a military recruitment ad, one commercial even
proclaimed that viewers should play poker because your country needs you! Appeals
in local charity advertisements also encouraged viewers to play lotteries for mostly social
reasons. As one voiceover in an ad put it, be a good civil partner and help us share the
dream. The assumptions behind the appeals were three fold: gambling fostered good
neighbors, gambling supported state institutions and programs, and gambling expanded
and protected communal customs and practices. The equation of lottery play with civic
duty was most ironic in those commercials that promulgated gambling as a panacea for
future public health programs.
Interestingly, 31 percent of the ads also featured dark color schemes, most notably
FullTiltPoker.net. Here, shades of black and gray were combined to simulate the apparent
mystery of the casino environment and the wistful romanticism of table play. These ads
emphasized both the past of poker play drawing on cowboy and saloon images and its
future by embedding sublime but steely images of urban casino design and technology
into the pictorial presentations. Scenes of somber seriousness coalesced with scenes of
dramatic delight in a series of ads that subtly promoted the authenticity, pleasure, and
timelessness of the action of gambling at cards.
Words were also a prominent feature of gambling ads with each commercial
averaging sixty words of text. Advertisers preferred conversational (51.6%) or neutral
vocabularies (46.9%) rather than intellectual or specialized languages. Conversational
language consisted of cultural phrases, slang, colloquialisms, and dangling sentences.
Many of these commercials deployed slang like kinda, yeah, hey, wannabe,


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feelin somethin, and talkin emphasizing convivial competition, used words like
beat, fool, bamboozle and suck in stressing a take me as I am or lump it
attitude, or hyped the jargon associated with the tools and bravado of card games
indicating an urban savvy born of a newly found devil-take-care mind set. Neutral
language avoided specialized vocabularies and presented gambling possibilities in a
matter-of-fact diction. Here personalities and the careful use of voiceovers created a
script-like broadcast tone that was clear, precise and objective, and bereft of niche
cultural indicators. For example, in Share The Dream Lottery, the voiceover was
similar in form and tone to a news anchor reading the headline news. Facts about the
lottery, such as prize values, ticket prices, sale locations, and community benefits were
presented to the audience in a technical matter of fact language. Impartial language was
used to convey the independence of the draw and to signal its inclusiveness. In these
types of commercials, the appeal was mental rather than emotional, informational rather
than entertaining, formal rather than informal, and mundane rather than sensationalistic in
idiom style.
Taken together these social and design features were important in mobilizing
emotions to appeal to consumers. Excitement was prominently present in many of the
commercials (59.4%). These highly stimulating and intense commercials typically
appealed to viewers expectations about economic gain or sold hope by promising that
skill would tame chance even for the underdog gambler. For example, Win $2,000
Dollars Every Month described the benefits of playing online at ScorePoker.com. The
fast-paced vocabulary signaled the advantages: improve your skills, get better, take
on the Score T.V. personalities in bounty tournaments. Like a barker at a carnival, the


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voiceover proclaimed ScorePoker.com had it all; the games were many, the choices were
dizzying, and the action was continuous and contagious.
Almost half of the commercials used humour and amusement (45.3%) as a
persuasive mechanism. For example, a poker playing dog barked out how many cards he
wanted from the dealer, an obnoxious poker player sprayed half eaten chips on his betting
buddies, a bebop man with dark sunglasses and a headset went all in, turned to a female
player and said your play John, oblivious to both aural and ocular sensibilities, a
woman practiced her bluffing skills on her partner by insisting incredulously that a car
accident was caused by a meteor falling on it, and a woman returned home to find her
place in a state of chaos, taken over by a cast of international characters {and their
animals} looking for a quick game of poker. In Mom Kicks Butt an African male in the
company of eight raucous male friends sitting in a modest hut told a joke with much on
screen laughter. With exotic skies and open grasslands panning in and out of the ad, he
listed how players from Vietnam, Africa, Canada, Japan, Mexico and Europe were
playing poker online. There was a pause in the narration and a frame break occurred
crossing the boundary of conventionally expected gender conduct in the commercial.
Suddenly the narrator laughingly proclaimed And their butts are getting kicked by my
Mom at Party Poker! Mom, perched nearby at her laptop computer, says what?
whereupon to much collective laughter she is told its okay, Mom!
Of course, more subtle significations backslapping, mimicking, and denouncing
- were marshaled to elicit interest, conjure enjoyment and inspire likeability in gambling
products and to make them attractive and credible to the viewing audience. For example,
in Miss Teen Oklahoma And The Carrot, several celebrities sat around a poker table


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telling tales. One person had won a beauty contest, another was a self-acclaimed author
of poker books and a third had a penchant for throwing playing cards through carrots at
ten paces. The unknown Asian and Caucasian players in the ad watched and listened
attentively. But when the story telling was over they shouted Oh Miss Oklahoma!
preferring her to the carrot-shooting cowboy. A close up of his face exhibiting disbelief
and scorn created comic relief by signing sex over apparent raw talent and communicated
the altogether contradictory message that senders of cultural codes do not blatantly direct
or control the receivers of the message. Together these ads were not only entertaining in
themselves, they relaxed critical thinking by putting viewers at ease. Laughter and
joviality created good mood settings that eschewed viewer suspicions. Funny messages
took advantage of cultural codes and mental cues to slip under the radar of reflexivity in
order to draw in or retain their desired audiences.
A small number of ads reversed the high energy pace and tone found in many
commercials and emphasized the virtues of patience and tranquility (14.1%). For
example, in Theres Always Another Hand a professional poker player lost a hand to an
unknown rookie player. Instead of being upset, he responded with grace and dignity and
exuded confidence that he would win again. Still other commercials mobilized emotions
like pride (7.8%), sympathy (4.7%) or anxiety (4.7%) as weapons of persuasion. In the
two Cursing commercials mentioned earlier several gamblers from around the world are
shown playing on computers and swearing in several languages to indicate their
disappointment over losing their money. But at the very end of the ads losing is trumped
by winning as excited players celebrated their wins by dancing and singing in an up beat
and amusing manner. Even the provocative ad Man With A Gun (a parody of a Clint


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Eastwood film scene) that showed a man dressed all in black loading, cocking and
shooting a gun directly at the viewers to signal that the elimination rounds of blackjack
were fatal, mocked the mood of fear and violence. He re-pointed the gun at the
audience, smiled slightly at the viewers possible pleasure of flinching and asked Are you
feeling lucky?. Indeed these commercials typically framed fear, frustration and loss as
representations in the narratives in order to subvert them by humor and replace them by
wins and thrills.
Responsible gambling messages were not present in the majority of these ads,
although 26.6 percent of the ads stated the legal age requirement that the viewer be
between 18 and 21 years of age. Several of these messages were in ads that promoted
contests including winning golf with a hockey great, winning a poker game with a
famous poker player, or winning entry into a poker championship. Other messages were
advertiser based. For example, PartyPoker.net declared age requirements in all of their
ads: For 18+ (or 21 where required). All of these age restriction messages were located
at the bottom of the screen in small lettering and remained visible for only a second or
two. Only two ads offered odds of winning information.
Like advertising for liquor, tobacco, music, sports events and travel and holiday
products certain master messages predominated and were regularly articulated by
commercial gambling advertisers. These messages were often inter-textual in the sense
that the master themes leaked into one another and depended upon each other for the
generation and communication of meaning. The narratives of skill, gain, normalization,
personal transformation and retreatism were often entwined within single ads and


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signified multiple messages at the same time even though we discuss them separately
(Table 32).
While poker and blackjack mix skill and chance in practice the ads used a
multitude of images to emphasize the former to the exclusion of the latter. Just over half
of the commercials pitched the idea that gambling was a matter of skill rather than luck
(53.1%). Some represented this explicitly. In Horseshoe, a young man opened a magic-
like box with a horseshoe inside, picked it up and drew a small saber from a sheath, said
to heck with luck, cut the horseshoe in half, flipped the saber in his hand, asserted this
game is about skill, threw two playing cards in the air and impaled them on the wall
with his saber. In another ad named Luck, superstitions, (touching rabbits feet), charms,
(looking at dolls) and sayings (knocking on wood) associated with risk taking were
belittled; the voiceover reminded the viewer that poker was a game of patience, timing
and aggression. The message was clear: luck cant explain why final tables have so
many familiar faces. Other ads were more implicit, making frequent references to
practice, strategy, and intelligence. For example, in Multiple Personalities, different
personas were recommended for poker play; tactics such as mixing up play, being
unpredictable and keeping competitors guessing about the real person at the table were
signaled as skills ensuring winning outcomes. Interestingly, the two commercials that
acknowledged that losses could occur even if skills were evident, reminded the viewers
you always have another hand to play. Together, these representations mobilized the
view that card gambling was a predictable behavior and over-exaggerated confidence in
the players own skills. The message was bad luck will not prevail, playing longer will
change the odds favorably and anyone can control the outcomes of gambling. One ad


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voiceover asserted, Maybe if you practice enough you could become like Joe Hashem.
There was little acknowledged harm or risk associated with this form of gambling. Even
losing can be beaten because it is an unlikely event was a thought pattern promoted by
these ads. So, adolescent males may be learning early on to view gambling as an activity
where illusions of control override the risky behaviors (Derevensky, Gupta & Cioppa,
1996; Frank & Smith, 1989). Advertisements to gamble at remote sites may be creating
and circulating early semiotic symbols of error about the role of hazard in card games and
may be contribute to mythical thinking about the nature of skill and the odds of winning
and losing.
A second master message evident in the gambling ads was normalization (50.0%).
Here commercials depicted gambling as a routine behavior rather than an occasional
leisure event. They cultivated the impression that everyones playing all the time,
everywhere. They portrayed the average person gathering at night, on the weekend, and
during lunch hours to gamble and framed the reach of gambling as eternally reoccurring
in transnational and multicultural contexts. Commercials typically illustrated the rhythms
and regularity of gambling. Tournaments, competitions and tours were hourly
happenings. Lotteries were daily, weekly, monthly and yearly events and guys nights
for poker were framed as culturally embedded events that were relatively commonplace.
Advertising availability and encouraging participation went hand in hand increasing
awareness of games, their locations and their features, and exhorting potential players to
consume the features of poker and blackjack gambling thus increasing the potential for
overall participation. The effects of advertising in this regard may help explain the
difficulty that clinicians have in distinguishing pathological from non-pathological


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adolescent gamblers. Creative and persistent advertising has normalized gambling as part
and parcel of contemporary consumer society to the point that these visual codes now
operate across cultural forms. Film scenes, sports vignettes, radio announcements,
billboard stills and print messages bleed into one another, influence one another and are
appropriated and rearticulated by commercial concerns so that early age measures of
disorders are not easily identifiable because naturalization has eroded many important
cultural benchmarks of measurement (Shaffer, LaBrie, Scanlan & Cummings, 1994).
The promise of winning was a third major message in the ads. Almost two of
every five (37.5%) commercials emphasized the potential for material gain. Some ads
were subtle in sending this message, as when voiceovers reminded the viewers that We
play for the legends, and for the unknowns who dream of winning it all, or when they
coached entry into major poker tournaments against the best pros in Vegas to win
unknown cash and prizes. These ads played on the ambiguity of economic gain, hinting
monetary success rather than asserting exact dollar values and enjoined the viewers to
dream the dream of personal riches. Consider the advertiser who offered a prize and
reminded the audience: Imagine the stories you could tell! Many ads, however, were
overt and specific. Thousands and millions of dollars were promised as the spoils of
gambling. The wins also included cruises, vacations, furnished houses, motor homes,
cars, boats, large appliances, holiday cottages, and seats at bounty tournaments or
national and world competitions. These prizes were promoted with loud audible
voiceovers and large, bold flashing textual messages promising the viewers that they
could be the next world champion of poker, they could win 2000 dollars in cash and
prizes every month, they could win one of over 400 daily prizes, or they could be


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among ten Canadians who will win millions of dollars in cash and prizes. These
messages were designed to foster the primacy of winning rather than the actual odds by
massaging the viewers altruistic instincts, (share the dream) appealing to their self-
interest, (it could be you) or convincing them they had nothing to lose, (everyone is a
winner). These appeals were based on two expressive needs: hope for the future and fear
of forfeiting winning by not playing to both attract new customers and cater to existing
ones. The odds of winning were noticeably absent in all but two of the ads. The
commercials played on impulsivity, fostered sensation-seeking, suggested the likelihood
of early and substantial wins and encouraged excitement through gambling rather than
other activities. On-line poker, blackjack and casino advertising highlighted the
simplicity of winning while simultaneously concealing the large number of losers who
were also watching and playing. Like lottery advertisers they preferred to deal in the
fantasy world of getting rich quick than try to objectively convey the expected return of
one dollar invested (Stearns & Borna; 1995:46).
A fourth master message conveyed by the advertisements was personal
transformation (42.2%). In addition to the accumulation of wealth, gambling ads
promoted the idea that gambling was a positive life changing force that could alter your
social status from a social loser to a highly desirable person with an abundance of
attractive, talented friends. The commercial Bracelets, for example, established a
dialogic relationship between images and consumers playfully engaging viewers to
accept the principle that the more gambling bracelets you were able to win and display on
your arm the more friends you would attract and maintain. Similarly the ad Dress like
Me assured the audience that a winning hand was an existential event capable of


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redefining popularity. It used irony to try to persuade the viewer that an unappealing
geek figure, who dressed exactly like a cool dude across from him at the poker table,
could switch places if he went all in and won the game. Many ads entailed an interactive
component in the sense that their form invoked imaginative turn-taking and role
identification. Win a round of golf with a hockey great or win a poker game with a
famous poker player inspired viewers to fantasize a direct brand partner relationship and
to visualize elevated social status as a result of rubbing shoulders with cultural icons.
Textual references such as you can be an aspiring poker star, you could become the
next world champion, and click here for a chance to be Canadas next poker champ
signified the possibility of sudden life changes. Some ads went further and marketed
viewers as potential icons in their own right. In a world of diversity, fragmentation and
uncertainty, gambling ads promised that poker and blackjack play could re-narrate the
self. Viewers could become someone else entirely, the next Joe Hachem, Jennifer
Harmon, or Chris Moneymaker. The absence of disposable income was no barrier to
social inclusion and social mobility because the commercials hyped the simplicity of
securing supply, disregarded the consequences of losing to self and others and valorized
risk to those who may have felt they had nothing to lose.
A fifth important master narrative indicated in the ads was retreatism (26.6%)
These commercials proclaimed a reprieve from the everyday world of work, family and
friends, all the while promoting alternate means to social and financial success. Several
advertisements straightforwardly promoted gambling as a fast and easy alternative to
work. This antinomian anti-work theme, also found in lottery, cigarette and alcohol
advertising, urged fantasies to alleviate or replace mundane work with the blessings of


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gambling. In Becoming A Millionaire, a man awoke from a nights sleep looking
panicked and hurriedly went through the rituals of shaving, dressing and eating breakfast
on the run. He then glanced through the window of his glamorous home looking on to the
vista of a beautiful lake. Suddenly he remembered he was a lottery winner and need not
work anymore. Becoming a millionaire takes getting used to opined the ad voiceover.
The main character is then shown removing his tie and lounging on the dock with his
family while the voiceover enthusiastically insisted life is a lot easier when you are a
millionaire! Some of the poker ads proclaimed no work or training was required to
succeed at gambling, because passion, grit and knowledge was what really separated
the amateur from the professional, while others urged viewers to fast track their pro
experiences to join the world of fateful encounters where chance and skill reveled in
rituals of courage, gallantry, and composure. Here phrases like hassle free, no
commitment, and free and easy evinced a place where one removed oneself from the
subordination of others, escaped into a time free from the dullness and repetition of daily
tasks and enjoyed honor, fame and fortune. One advertisement Boardroom Versus
Poker Table suggested that the two places were similar but with a twist. At these tables
we go all in; we are fully leveraged stated the voiceover. Risk and reward at the digital
card table was much like reading it on a spread sheet, but gambling, the viewer is told,
was more rewarding because unlike the boardrooms the poker tables never closed and
conference calls were not welcome. So, why work when you could play for a living and,
in the context of that play, why return to work when the suspense, conflict, and
uncertainty of life were easier to manage, were powerful messages that echoed through
several of the ads.


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This idea of gambling as a rite of reversal was also evident in regard to
obligations to family and friends. For instance, in Grandma, a guys night out playing
poker and drinking beer with his buddies was compromised by a duty of care he had to a
family member. But the main message in the ad was that online play quietly subverted
this responsibility to others. Computer technology offered everyone an opportunity to
escape into a simulated environment where concern was quixotic and replaced by the
illusion of control over destiny and circumstance. Even grandma, the ad intoned, can
escape her aged fate, get on-line, and beat her rookie grandson! Similarly in
Obnoxious Guy Eating Chips, gambling online is signified as a sanctuary from
annoying friends with loutish habits. Virtual habitats overcome staid social forms and
relations offering removal from a world of emotional exasperation while at the same time
providing positive investiture in the rituals of individualism without restriction. These ads
offered a glimpse of what might be by emphasizing that the goals of achievement and
recognition can be aspired to with few conventional risks. Their recurring theme and
character type appealed to deeply and commonly felt emotions, which when seen by
potential gamblers, objectified their sought after self identity attitudes and fantasies
promising freedom, power and control as a check on the monotony and inevitability of
life. Like the games themselves, these ads did not replace reality, but they often
legitimated suspending the consequences of real life for the duration of play and
promoted the view that flight or withdrawal was accompanied with being a somebody not
a nobody.
In sum, these remote ads, like some lottery and casino advertising, tapped into the
role that emotions play in the workings of the mind and subtly exploited some of the


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factors that research has shown contributes to at risk gambling: the association between
winning and continuous play, between impulse buying and loss of control over rational
decision making, between overconfidence in skill, actual winning returns, and the
propensity to chase losses, between excitement, the pursuit of sensation and the
production or maintenance of dissociative experiences, between myth making, faulty
thinking and the real statistical probabilities of economic success and social mobility
from gambling and between high awareness of availability of gambling products and high
levels of exposure and consumption and the greater risk of resorting to potentially
disordered conduct (Delfabbro 2004; Delfabbro, Lahn & Grabosky 2006; Messerlian,
Derevensky & Gutpa, 2005; Turner & Horbay, 2004; May, Whelan, Meyers &
Steenbaugh, 2005). While many of the ads reminded consumers that they had to be of a
certain age to play, the true costs of gambling were never revealed, and the harms or risks
of becoming addicted were only haphazardly mentioned in the ads. This is not to suggest
that gambling advertisers engaged in a planned thought control program. Rather different
advertisers competed for market share or dominance in growing market. They honed
powerful techniques of mass persuasion to move consumers to try their products by
appealing to the mental shortcuts of the mind and the cultural signs, symbols and rituals
of sports, pleasure, fun and entertainment.


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Gambling Advertising, Sport Culture, and the Fun Ethic
Taken together, lottery, casino and remote gambling ads evinced a complex
assemblage of communication styles, tones, texts, sounds, images, appeals and messages.
These ads were designed and produced by marketing and advertising professionals who
employed a wide range of rhetorical and psychological techniques: high end graphics,
stimulating music, interesting copy, fast-paced camera work, professional voice
narration, bright colour schemes, exciting background locations, attractive young models,
real winners, endless repetitions, and buying factors such as humour, coolness, fun,
fantasy, luxurious living, entertainment, loyalty and adding to the social good to capture
consumer attention, influence perceptions and attitudes and sell their own particular
gambling products. In this sense gambling advertisements were models of and models for
reality. Sometimes mythical and sometimes informational, they organized experiences for
their audiences that prompted purchasing and socialized people into a culture of gambling
consumption. Advertising structured both experience and intelligibility and provided a
way of presenting and apprehending the world of gambling and knowing it at the same
time. Advertising was gamblings way of saying I love you to itself. As Sherry
(1987:447) observes, advertising is oddly prophetic and no more so than in the gambling
field because it has the ability to tell us truths about ourselves in regard to the gambling
products we consume or are asked to consume without being much interested in the truth
at all.
In some instances the ads projected sober, straightforward, mundane messages
designed in a top down manner to remind viewing and listening audiences to visit a
casino, buy a weekly lottery ticket, or log on to a favourite on-line poker site. They were


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positioned and timed for the best impact on sales in some cases scheduling
advertisements to coincide with end of week purchase cycles and in other cases front-
ending them to introduce new games (i.e. Bucko) as part of concerted but time limited
campaigns to stimulate interest, implant slogans and messages through repeat exposures
(Give a Loonie a Chance), and maintain interest by stressing the volume and size of
jackpots (Saturdays 649 Jackpot is an Estimated 30 Million Dollars!). Information ads
typically announced new products, provided advice about games and their prize
structures, emphasized the public benefits of gambling revenues, and mobilized feel
good sentiments about gambling as a relatively new commercial venture in society.
In other instances, the commercials sought to capture or hold consumers and
influence their purchasing power by appealing to deep feelings associated with wider
cultural symbols that, in turn, were connected back to particular gambling products: the
dream of instant fame and fortune by winning Super 7, the experience of visiting Las
Vegas by proxy at the local casino, the freedom to escape work by winning a jackpot or
the thrill of changing jobs by becoming a successful poker player. These thematic or
brand ads were more ambitious, subtle, indirect, parodic and interactive. They worked
from the bottom up and embedded persuasion techniques in wider worlds of desire,
fantasy and imagination and broader structures of media and society. Consumers were
not objects to remind or order about by an all seeing commercial Oz. Rather, audiences
were envisioned dynamically in the message production process as active participants in
the creation and circulation of the discourse of advertising on gambling.
Most ads of this genre in one way or another hooked into pre-existing cultural
forms (youth culture, masculine ideas, sexual myths, etc.) and used interactive


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communications to render their messages sensible to their audiences, to structure the
identities of the subjects they interacted with, and to circulate their moral messages in a
language of success and fantasy that were then made available to be reincorporated into
lived experiences by gamblers at the shopping mall, in the bars, at casinos, or on the
internet. As Binde (2008:2) notes in his study of truth and deception in gambling
advertising, many ads profile consumers by associating certain games with specific
attitudes, lifestyles and notions that are assumed to be attractive for current and potential
customers. This process is best understood not as sophistry directed at conning
consumers but rather as active engagement aimed at enticing them by using well-known
scripts that structure preferred outcomes which they can connect to as purchasers of
particular gambling products (Pateman, 1983:188).
In this view, people buy gambling products because they are designed as
attractive sign and symbol systems, and advertising is but one moment in a wider chain of
signification in which the individual commercials combine obvious and appealing signs
(winning, success, etc.) and easily understood intended meanings (buy a 649 ticket today)
so that the significance of the commercial to the consumer invokes understanding and
recognition and often naturalizes the product through irony (you cant win if you dont
play rather than you wont win if you do play!). To recall Barthes semiological method
for decoding advertising messages (1973:128), at the level of the empty signifier the
gambling product has been linked to a series of signifiers which connote consumer
culture: winning, fun, popularity, sexuality, leisure, consumption and so on. These
signifiers, in turn, are connected to a second order language of pleasure, seduction and
excitement which are present in an infinite number of cultural texts in society films,


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newspapers, internet games, television series, and television programs which may not
be immediately present in the ads but which order their general meaning and valorize
their significance in popular culture. At the level of the full signifier, consumers
anticipate what the ad is meant to accomplish; they are invited to connect a particular
product to the pleasures of consumer culture. In all likelihood viewers and listeners know
that visiting a casino or playing scratch cards does not or will not necessarily add up to
fun or prosperity (it may be boring and costly). But at the same time the advert works
well because the significance of gaiety, gain and sexuality are registered inside the advert
and most importantly the form and tone of the ad intones a wider, indirect, independent
cultural appeal; the pitch is not over-determined (read as blatant control or manipulation)
or under-determined (read as meaningless or confusing). Instead, the connection between
a lottery, poker or casino product and its mythical attributes as a sound investment
(winning), a skillful activity rather than a mix of chance and talent, or a glamorous
moment of fun (consumer recreation) seems momentarily recognizable and plausible.
The communication of the message is subtle enough to stop the consumer from rejecting
it outright. The ad message is sent to the receiver as a narrative or visual representation
about gambling that is at once both believed and doubted. Of course, I know my chances
of winning ten million dollars on Super 7 are slim to nothing but if I do not play, I cannot
win. So, give me a TAG as well; you never know! is a repeated myth story of gambling at
once true and unreal. At bottom, the strength of gambling ads, like other commercials,
draw power from the wider web of consumption practices and symbolic meanings found
in contemporary consumer culture while at the same time the single ad validates and
bolsters the overall advertising process as a cultural system (Sherry, 1987). As Pateman


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(1983:188) reminds us advertisements are rarely identified in isolation and
retrospectively, but rather they are identified in a context where they have been
anticipated and where the sign systems and cultural codes of society have been
appropriated and reformatted by commercial interests so that they resonate with cultural
practices such as finding happiness, getting rich, helping others, and supporting worthy
causes.
Moreover, as with other areas of culture watching films, listening to music on-
line, going to the theatre, attending sports events it is the dynamic relationship between
producers and consumers of advertising messages that characterizes the functioning of
much advertising for gambling. The consumption of most products, we insist, have been
transmitted in commercials to borrow, shape and circulate basic human needs as saleable
and re-saleable commodities (Gulus & Weinberger, 2005; Sivulka, 1998). That is what
good advertising does best! Thematic advertising has been especially concerned with
promoting soulful products to consumers who are encouraged to relate to them
mentally, physically and emotionally in order to construct their personalities and self-
images through them. The poker boys of the last decade, for example, are encouraged to
see themselves and make themselves over in the image of their on-line heroes. As Elliot
(1999) notes, social identities are constructed through representation not outside it and
the determination of the self occurs through the framing of and negotiation with people as
consumers of risk and managers of consumption. This is especially so where youthful
audiences may be at play in the marketing process or where youth cultures are deployed
as symbolic capital to sell material products.


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Alcohol, tobacco and designer drink advertising and branding, for example, have
been crafted especially to mirror dominant representations of youth lifestyles.
McCreanor, Greenaway, Barnes, Borrell and Gregory (2005:257) found that beer and
vodka advertisers tried to sell their products as inherent to adolescent social culture by
sponsoring fashion events, popular dances and creative competitions on their websites.
Gray, Amus & Currie (1997) revealed that fashion spreads in magazines in Britain in the
1990s played to the reader by portraying body and facial looks which tapped into and
reflected back the mythology which young people identified with and aspired to; the
mythology of being noticeable and someone as a result of smoking cigarettes.
Indeed, Marlow (2001:42-43) discovered that cigarette advertising on billboards in the
United States capitalized on the theme of youthful dissent and escapism. Joe Camel, the
ultra cool guy was the epitome of attitude in the ads, an urban expression of choice and
defiance against middle class values that seduced teens into smoking, even if it harmed
them. Joe Camel was marketed as an incorrigible gambler who could have his cash and
smoke it too! He was expressed in his own youthful rebellion as simply above all
sensible advice. This finding is consistent with Baileys (1998:75) overall argument that
cigarette advertising strategies have seduced children and teens into smoking by
associating it with a protest of authority figures, rebellion and a symbol of
independence.
Taylor (2000:339-344) also reported that commercial advertising in the United
Kingdom was linked to the wider world of mass mediated society. Visual codes, spoken
texts, and written words were entwined with other forms of cultural production to sell
liquor to youth. Perfume and designer drinks, for example, were promoted through coded


145

references to club culture (fun, dancing, music and sexuality, etc.) and to a wider
language of pleasure and excitement that drew upon embedded words, signs and symbols
of drug culture, connected these products to their cultural referents and sold alcohol and
cosmetics back to adolescents as versions of their own needs and desires. Walsh and
Gentile (2007: 5-8) even found that frogs sold beer in the United States. By using
emotional messaging and targeting the brains unconscious processing capacity via
humor, sports heroes and repetitive exposure, they discovered that the television media
and its ads were a significant cultural predictor of both knowledge and intentions to drink
and actual drinking behaviors among junior high and high school students. The
commercial messages worked because they slipped in underneath the radar of awareness
and they were most effective because young consumers were not always conscious that
they were being affected by persuasion techniques. In their words, advertising was the
art and science of influence where thinking about the actual product or even consuming
it was not as important as identifying with its cultural signifiers.
If club culture and youth culture were paramount in selling beer, liquor and
tobacco, what were the coded references the embedded words, signs, and symbols
that were deployed to sell gambling products to Nova Scotians? First, if we look at off-
shore advertising for primarily poker and blackjack, we find that the sheer volume and
frequency of gambling programs, charity poker competitions, and interactive tournaments
on-line and on television amounts to constant ad campaigns where sport culture is
increasingly used to brand gambling for an anticipated youthful market. Internet poker
and blackjack have been designed and presented as if they were sporting activities in their
own right and successful players have been packaged and displayed as if they were the


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equivalents of football, baseball, or golf heroes. Furthermore, the use of imagery
associated with media sport culture play by play announcers, replays, panels of expert
commentators, and end of game analysts along with the use of sport-related language
tournaments, challenges, championships, opens, classics, legends, world cups, face-offs
and world series of poker and/or blackjack have effectively branded card-based
gambling as a sporting product where skill, tactics, strategies, and competitive spirit
predominates and where chance is either marginal or missing.
Second, we find e-gambling and to a lesser degree lotteries and casinos have
advertised and promoted gambling directly through sport programming, sponsoring their
products at hockey, baseball, golf, football, and soccer events to reach their preferred
audiences, and some gambling programs, in turn, (especially in the poker and blackjack
sector) have directed their audiences to view upcoming sport programs such as NHL
playoff games, baseball world series, soccer qualifiers and football Super Bowls. The
sportification of gambling and the gamblification of sports in advertising is creating
intergenerational effects with younger and younger people learning about gambling
through sports programming and cultural icons, and corporations establishing early brand
loyalty by acquiring customers who get turned on to their products and not a
competitors because the first was validated by established sport and broadcast industries
or legitimated by celebrities as worthy gambling sites while the others were not. As Dyall
et al. (2007:6) note: engagement and support of gambling by sport icons, and other
cultural figures for that matter, has not only increased it has had an even greater impact
on youth because it has created community wide support to participate in wagering at
an earlier age overall.


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Third, the messaging in more and more gambling ads, we find, has actively
constituted an emergent sport related referent system in which texts, images and sounds
radio scripts, banner announcements and taglines for gambling, and the use of sport signs
and symbols, footballs, goal lines, goal posts, touchdowns, the commands of
quarterbacks, the shouts of hockey players, the sounds of pucks and skates on ice, the
voices of sports announcers and the roar of on-looking crowds in advertisements have
come together to associate winning at gambling with winning at sports. The
sportification content in the ads often offers the promise of bringing new gambling
products to consumers in new ways while simultaneously suggesting that the untoward
impressions of gambling can be ameliorated by connecting them to culturally approved
users, uses and ideals: just one shot away from glory, your team scores, the prize is
yours, just a touchdown away from winning it all were not just ad teasers to create
awareness and stimulate excitement for gambling, they were appeals, especially to those
who might otherwise be unfamiliar with or oppose gambling, to view it as a savory
activity where the fun of playing at the lottery kiosk or at the virtual poker table was like
the fun of playing games at the stadium.
Finally, both e-gambling, and lotteries and casinos have increasingly promoted
their products as worthy providers for sports events proper. In the case of the former, we
find that the resort to sports icons and other celebrity types has been obvious and
prevalent with sports heroes even forming their own competitions and playing for
charities and good causes at special on-line tournaments. In the case of the latter, the
pitch has been more subtle; gambling revenues have been advertised to support sports
figures, amateur teams or regional athletic events, or gambling venues have been


148

associated with either live or telecasted sporting events. In either event the advertising
pitch has been to a wider culturally approved world that constructs the meaning of
gambling as a commodity by restating accepted sports codes and practices into the
commercials and by using the social speech of sports to create a language of cultural
persuasion for gambling. In other words, certain signs and symbols of sports culture have
been connected as elements of advertising in an interdependent system of product
connotation that provides a form and meaning for both gambling and sport to exist
together naturally, as it were, and that encourages consumers to enjoy and experience
the myth of gambling as sport as at once plausible and preferable. As Pollay (1986:21)
rightly observes commercial persuasion not only manners our shopping or product use
behaviours, it also programs the larger domain of social roles, language, goals, values
and the sources of meaning in our culture.
The advertisement of gambling was also embedded in a second series of emerging
signs and symbols that bolstered its overall messages of persuasion as a cultural
production. Again this is not unique. The symbols of fashion and elegance have been
used to glamorize clothing and cosmetics. The symbols of youthful exuberance have been
deployed to sell toys, soft drinks and candy. The symbols of adventure, independence and
rebellion against authority have been used to promote alcohol and cigarettes. Gambling
advertising, as we have seen, has also been a tremendous creator and devourer of symbols
to convince consumers that their lives are lives half-lived unless they visit a casino, play
poker on-line, or buy the latest lottery product. This gospel of gambling goods has
encouraged consumers to learn the rite words in rote order through countless jingles,
slogans, mottos, catch phrases, icons, banners and merchandise which gambling


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advertisers and providers have disseminated ritualistically in time and space. Thus,
without much thinking we know where to locate the scratch tickets in the corner store,
where to find the kiosks in the malls, where to play the latest VLT machine, where to log
in for the next poker free-roll event and where to check for the results of the latest
lottery draws. We know almost by heart that the Atlantic PayDay draws occur on
Thursdays, the Super 7 draws are on Fridays and the 649 draws happen on Wednesdays
and Saturdays. So, gambling commercials have provided much symbolic significance
through what anthropologists call the magic of ritual by converting prosaic products,
such as lottery tickets, into meaningful desired daily goods that can be consumed at
convenience as one goes to work, has lunch, buys gas, goes for a drink, turns on a
computer or visits a shopping mall no matter what time of the day or day of the week. As
Binde (2008:18) astutely observes, gambling advertising is omnipresent and gambling
and advertising have a common denominator: fantasies, and to be precise, fantasies about
becoming happy.
What then are the archetypes of happiness in an era we might fix as either Late
Lotto or Early Electronic Poker? Numbers betting, dice play and card playing have
existed for centuries, of course, but as primarily individual fads or foibles. To transfer
them from private interests into a societal ethos of fun and entertainment has been a
magical incantation indeed. One element in this transformative exercise of new signs and
symbols has been to link the products lotteries, casinos and on-line poker and blackjack
to a series of wider signifiers which index fun and fantasy more generally in our
culture. These signifiers have then been connected to a wider meta language of seduction,
pleasure and excitement which are part and parcel of consumer culture and which, in


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turn, have been deployed to order the cultural associations and cultural meanings of
selling gambling as both common place and recreational in character. If we view and read
the images and texts of many casino ads, for example, we know what they are meant to
accomplish as full signifiers intended meanings or effects. So, consumers are invited to
connect table games, dice games and slot machines to the pleasures of endless holidays,
elegant dining, good music, and extravagant lifestyles, and by implication consume
casino products because they are soulful and cool culturally. Of course, pulling a slot
machine or rolling a set of dice does not necessarily make consumers or consuming fun,
exciting and sexy. But at another level these ads are designed to have a more ambiguous
significance because they are subtly indirect and gently persuasive in their messaging
style and tone. It is not easy or possible for consumers to reject these commercials out of
hand because the connection between casino products and their mythical existences as
part of a continuum of recreational choices and desires are both believable and likeable.
The messages are indirect enough, even to the point of absenting the actual gambling
products in some ads, to suggest to consumers that casinos have little to do with gambling
and much to do with luxury and entertainment. The products absented in the ads, of
course, are deliberately contrived to trigger what Pateman (1983:190) calls a default
assignment response in the commercial inviting readers or viewers to fill in what is
missing in the ads and to recover the real product as both an engaging and enjoyable
entity. That is to say, to try to convince consumers that casino gambling really is a fun
pastime full of sound and fury signifying something: hopeful dreams, fateful encounters,
and spirited competition.


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This naturalization of the message occurred not only because the products were
sometimes absent or underplayed in the ads, but as well because the style and form of
many of the casino ads tapped directly into the usages of the night-time economy and the
attendant fantasies of conspicuous consumption which were mostly directed at a youthful
adult market. The ads inside and outside the casino settings, for example, were
immediately placed in relation to a set of circumstances, signs and symbols that the
consumer recognized and then connected with desirable sensations, attractions,
experiences and outcomes. The often conveyed LIVE THE THRILL commercial in both
print and television formats was alternately daring, amusing, fantastic, and potentially
profitable because it was tied to wider tangible and emotional cultural qualities: tax free
living, glamorous adventures, getaway escapes and the joys of winning. Consider as well
the free play teasers that customers often receive when they sign up for loyalty cards.
These were strong commercial advertisements that related to people emotionally through
anticipation and turn-taking. First, consumers were asked to sign in and interact with slot
machines before it was recognized by them too clearly that the free bonus was a
commercial message in its own right. Second, the customers had to physically interact as
part of the advert by placing the coins in special slot machines and wagering them; acts of
engagement that encouraged the players to remember and act upon the recreational
appeals and messages of the casino. Finally, the spinning of the machines and the quick
outcomes created a sense of achievement for customers, win or lose; it was the tactile
pay out for interacting with the advertisement and the product that so much advertising
increasingly wants to accomplish. As Elliott (1999) notes contemporary advertising
practices now revolve around the realization that there is a dialogic relationship


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between images, texts, sounds and consumers, suggesting that the more commercials
engage, converse, and challenge readers and viewers the greater will be their cultural
purchase with buyers.
The use of real consumers in ads was another way in which gambling advertisers
capitalized on the cultural capital of their customers to back-talk their products through
dialogic methods. As Thompson (1997:439) observes, advertisers often deploy
consumers consumption stories because they empower customers at the centre of selling
in ways that allow advertisers to examine how consumers perceive products in
relationship to themselves and as cultural symbols that signify the wider meaning value
of their products aside from their price. The use of gambling winners as story-tellers
created especially personalized and poignant cultural frames of reference that played to
the connections between biography and community to create appeal for lottery products
such as Christmas For Life, Set For Life, Crossword and Atlantic 49.
Indeed, the narrative form in the real winner ads was simple and straightforward.
A past event of consumption (I was going to buy batteries) was relived by a winner in
relation to a present concern (I bought a scratch ticket and won a million dollars) and
projected toward an envisioned future which audiences were invited to identify with and
appreciate (And it has been a great time ever since; keep on scratching), or a named
consumer (Kim Redden) from a familiar community (Newport, Nova Scotia) was shown
re-experiencing a recent gambling win (Scratched and won $50,000) which was then
parlayed on to a happy outcome that was shared with viewers or listeners for their benefit
and anticipated emulation (Helped her build a new home).


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Aside from the obvious creation and promotion of community celebrities to
help engender trust in games, instill experiences of winning, and signify fun, excitement,
and success, winners stories were also narratives that conveyed and circulated wider
cultural meanings through a language that linked everyday subjective language and
experience to target audiences. The power of these ads was in the interactive designs that
allowed viewers and listeners to partake in cultural conversations and share in cultural
myths. For example, winners were almost always connoted as either wise or altruistic to
frame the engagement of the audiences with the messages/products. The wise winner was
depicted as sensible, in control, and forward looking. They planned for the future by
paying off debts, buying new vehicles, investing in retirement schemes and taking stress-
free holidays. They were happy and deserving consumers free of previous obligations and
especially emancipated to enjoy more of the pleasures of consumption. The altruistic
winner was portrayed as modest and generous. Gambling was a form of self-fulfillment
because it enabled acts of kindness, sharing, and friendship which valorized consumption
as a social form of pleasure. Imprudent, undeserving and even highly cautious winners
often reported in the media; however, were absent in the commercial tales of winners.
Winning did not entail excessive spending, loss of control, envy, or discord as was often
reported in the news when winners squandered jackpots or refused to share their wins
with family or friends (Binde, 2007b). Rather, consumer consumption stories were
narrowly contrived to entice audiences to take turns with winning citizens and imagine
themselves in their shoes, and to participate vicariously with the ads through positive
anticipation: Would they be next? What would they do if they won? Would they too
enjoy the good life of the mythical happy gambler?


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Winners stories were almost always about fun and wonderment. They were
carefully positioned to tap directly into the it should be me syndrome of hedonistic
consumption that audiences would easily recognize and connect with desirable
sensations, experiences and outcomes. The use of self-narration in these archetypal
stories appeared almost revealing and enchanting. Winners confessed their feelings and
good fortune; in these ads faith, hope and charity were connected to a materialist love of
money and a deserving desire to increase capital. Luck was like a religious conversion; it
struck you suddenly and anytime, and blessed you with joy and happiness. Life changed
in an instant. Good things happened to those who gambled!
Winners narratives were pitched to build up good will from the bottom up for
gambling and establish an implicit association between it and being successful and
stylish, and to reduce the anxiety consumers have about their urges and habits by
legitimizing gambling as personal and familiar. These objectives were not difficult to
accomplish because the social speech in these winner consumption stories was not novel
in form or content. They already meant something to receivers because the winner ads
were imbricated with wider cultural messages coming from films, sports, newspapers,
television and the internet that had gradually spilled in to consumerist communication
culture, gave them force and familiarity, and informed both the sender of the message
what was saleable and the receiver of the message what to expect in the expanding
continuum of recreational fun and entertainment.
The case of the re-branding of poker and blackjack also demonstrates how
influential the mythology of fun and entertainment has become and shows how powerful
messages connected to this mythology can be when applied to gambling. Prior to the


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1990s the promotion and marketing of poker and blackjack was inconsiderable and
limited to brick and mortar venues. In the early 1990s; however, internet companies
started to become concerned about how to introduce traditional table games into on-line
venues so that play could occur in worldwide virtual environments and be accessed by
computers from homes, offices or public spaces around the globe. Research suggested
that there were large potential markets and new available technologies that could
transform the international gambling scene by transforming space and time. One obvious
way forward was to re-brand poker and blackjack and to re-package them so that they
appealed to audiences seeking more and more recreational choices in the new age of
information. The challenge was to make internet gambling the consumer choice of the
future and to make gambling providers fix and add value to their products by creating
direct relationship partners with particular customers through selective branding
(Zangeneh, Griffiths & Parke, 2008:144-145).
A turn away from advertising the traditional brick and mortar betting shops,
casinos and poker rooms towards highly packaged designer formats on flashy colourful
websites occurred. By the mid 1990s remote gambling providers were spending hundreds
of millions of dollars promoting on-line consumption, most of this in the form of
television advertising. For example, at least four internet poker or blackjack ads appeared
every day in our sample of television channels in Nova Scotia. They emphasized that the
products were easy to access and always available. Indeed, branding entailed developing
and maintaining a digital environment for the unproblematic consumption of card-based
gambling by linking brands to niches of age, gender and conspicuous consumption. Many
of the ads we studied played to a youthful masculinity where poker boys were linked to


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success, excitement, notoriety and mateship, and where the use of imagery and language
converged to produce a discourse associated with skills, good times and competitive fun.
The power of the re-branding campaign turned on its ability to reinvigorate poker and
blackjack as virtual products played by digital selves with electronic friends in cyber-
space and to appeal to those who were already computer savvy and internet intelligent
and then extend the reach of the products to specific gender (womens only poker
challenges) and racial groups (Black and Asian only poker tournaments). These tangible
and emotional qualities were especially inviting to young people, more so than
conventional card playing figures because they tapped into the familiar wider world of
digital living and consumption with flair, humour and credibility. Not unlike club culture
or dance culture for alcohol consumption, the advertising of e-gambling capitalized on
identifiable elements of youthful practices argot, clothes, attitudes, looks, sports all
sold it back to them as desired commodities.
This does not mean that these ads, or any other government based gambling
commercials we studied, directly targeted children or young adolescents. Actors, models
and winners depicted in the ads, for example, were not teenagers, although many of the
actors and models appeared to be in their early twenties and some of the ads aired at
times or on programs directly attractive to youth. However, the content and tone of many
of the ads did try to connect to certain lifestyle clusters and social identity features that
blended smoothly into a relatively youthful world enamored with wanting to be cool,
getting ahead fast, looking for short cuts to success, quick fixes to problems, and fearing
the risks of the future. So, young people were a constant bye-catch of inestimable value
to internet providers and their advertising. Not surprisingly, many internet companies


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followed America Onlines (AOL) market saturation strategy of supplying free CDs to
customers by providing free software, free rolls, free games, free bonuses, convertible
credit to cash accounts, and by deploying a medley of macho dialogue and cartoon-like
speech bubbles to attract and hold customers. One website, for example, included an
attractive female figure encouraging players to Supersize Your Saturdays !!! and play
poker, while three other sultry looking young women ironically cautioned consumers that
Twos Company But Threes a Challenge so play the triple header every Monday
evening. These commercials and websites encouraged young people to see gambling as
good times where time out and fanciful fantasy were both normal and reasonable.
These intertextual ads appropriated and recirculated highly positive signs and symbols for
gambling and its place in everyday life producing in the process new recruits for the thrill
seeking pleasure-leisure lifestyle of adolescence and young adulthood and a general
climate of acceptance for gambling among youthful populations for whom consumption
is already an exciting practice or a still distant possibility.
In summary, the gambling advertising assemblage with its high volume exposure,
pervasiveness and repetitiveness of messaging, and professional design and graphics has
asserted itself as a culturally embedded feature of everyday life. In a relatively short
period of time, product placement, promotion, pricing and advertising have normalized
gambling as fun, gainful and pleasurable. Coded references to it are omnipresent and
omnivorous. References to it can be seen, read, or heard on a daily basis, reinforced as it
were by the many signs and symbols which connect and connote gambling to the wider
pleasures and good times of popular culture. Gambling no longer belongs to an unknown
subcultural world. In a matter of a generation, it has come to signify something different


158

for both adults and youth. Gambling is an indicator of changing cultural values and
meanings and is perhaps the latest example of how basic needs and desires are sold back
to consumers as an intangible product: a wishful winning way of life, the latest
competitive sport, a glamorous lifestyle or an attractive recreational choice not unlike
horse riding, hand gliding or mountaineering. So, weigh the risks and consider the
enjoyment of gambling, the ads proclaim, but not it would seem against the potential
dangers and pitfalls because they are sadly absent or woefully inadequate in much
commercial advertising about gambling.


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Tables




Table 1 ALC Advertising by Media Type

Media Type Frequency Percent

Print 4,132 3.6
Radio 79,478 69.4
Television 30,928 27.0

Total 114,538 100.0









Table 2 ALC Print Ads by Region

Region Frequency Percent

National 5 0.1
New Brunswick 1,132 27.4
Newfoundland 535 13
Nova Scotia 1,634 39.5
Prince Edward Island 422 10.2
Maritimes 383 9.3
Unknown 21 0.5

Total 4,132 100.0











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Table 3 ALC Print Ads by Month

Month Frequency Percent

Dec 2004 14 .3
Jan 2005 136 3.3
Feb 2005 235 5.7
Mar 2005 23 .6
Apr 2005 265 6.4
May 2005 184 4.5
Jun 2005 26 .6
Jul 2005 92 2.2
Aug 2005 59 1.4
Sep 2005 19 .5
Oct 2005 224 5.4
Nov 2005 125 3.0
Dec 2005 260 6.3
Jan 2006 125 3.0
Feb 2006 245 5.9
Mar 2006 316 7.6
Apr 2006 329 8.0
May 2006 122 3.0
Jun 2006 141 3.4
Jul 2006 91 2.2
Aug 2006 247 6.0
Sep 2006 248 6.0
Oct 2006 23 .6
Nov 2006 265 6.4
Dec 2006 318 7.7

Total 4,132 100.0

Table 4 ALC Gambling Products in Print Ads

Gambling Product Frequency Percent

Bucko 355 8.6
Unknown 12 .3
Corporate 286 6.9
Lotto 649 1,305 31.6
Scratch N Win 175 4.2
Super 7 1,999 48.4

Total 4,132 100.0



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Table 5 ALC Print Ads by Content Themes

Theme Frequency Percent

Gambling is Normalized 23 50.0
Winning 44 95.7
Community Benefits 18 39.1


Table 6 ALC Radio Advertising by Vendor

Radio Station Frequency Percent

C100-FM 789 1.0
CFAIFM 1,150 1.4
CFAN 1,155 1.5
CFBC 847 1.1
CFCB AM 1,053 1.3
CFCY CHARLOTTETOWN 1,366 1.7
CFDR 814 1.0
CFJU FM - KEDGWICK ST QUENTIN 136 .2
CFQMFM 987 1.2
CFRK FM FREDERICTON 308 .4
CFRQ FM RADIO-Q104 884 1.1
CFSX 374 .5
CFXY-FM 1,061 1.3
CHCM AM 845 1.1
CHER 1,174 1.5
CHFXFM 976 1.2
CHLQ-FM CHARLOTTETOWN 1,328 1.7
CHNI FM SAINT JOHN 538 .7
CHNS 898 1.1
CHOY FM / CHOIX FM 1,026 1.3
CHOZFM 867 1.1
CHSJ FM - ST JOHN 921 1.2
CHTD AM 1,138 1.4
CHTN-AM CHARLOTTETOWN 1,251 1.6
CHVO TRINITY/CONC 827 1.0
CHWV-FM 909 1.1
CIBX FM 1,233 1.6
CIEZ FM HALIFAX 156 .2
CIGO 1,124 1.4
CIKX FM 1,130 1.4
CIMS FM CAMPBELLTON 136 .2
CIOKFM 867 1.1


162

CIOO FM RADIO 116 .1
CIRB FM - SUMMERSIDE 4,222 5.3
CIRH FM - HALIFAX 4,131 5.2
CJCB 1,349 1.7
CJCH AM RADIO 802 1.0
CJCH 1,130 1.4
CJCW 1,132 1.4
CJFX 1,229 1.5
CJLS YARMOUTH 1,174 1.5
CJMO-FM 1,069 1.3
CJNI FM HALIFAX 539 .7
CJPN FM - FREDERICTON 136 .2
CJRW 1,270 1.6
CJSE FM 1,309 1.6
CJXL-FM 1,011 1.3
CJYC-FM 131 .2
CJYC 783 1.0
CJYQ 764 1.0
CKBCAM 1,099 1.4
CKBW 1,168 1.5
CKCM AM 841 1.1
CKCW-FM 985 1.2
CKDH AMHERST 1,172 1.5
CKEC NEW GLASGOW 1,165 1.5
CKEN KENTVILLE 1,242 1.6
CKGA GANDER 838 1.1
CKHJ-AM FREDERICTON 955 1.2
CKHJ-FM-RADIO RSL 156 .2
CKIXFM 848 1.1
CKLE FM CARAQUET 1,275 1.6
CKNB CAMPBELLTON 1,185 1.5
CKNI FM MONCTON 539 .7
CKPE-FM 1,327 1.7
CKRO-FM 1,323 1.7
CKSJ FM - ST. JOHNS 785 1.0
CKTO-FM 1,131 1.4
CKTY FM 1,131 1.4
CKUL FM - HALIFAX 804 1.0
CKVO CLARENVILLE 808 1.0
CKWMFM 1,242 1.6
CKXD 1,184 1.5
CKXG 1,160 1.5
CKXX FM 987 1.2
HUMBER VALLEY B'CAST 357 .4
RADIO CJEM-CKMV 1,275 1.6


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VOCM-FM 974 1.2
VOCM 154 .2
VOCMAM 803 1.0

Total 79,478 100.0


Table 7 ALC Radio Ad Aired by Region

Region Frequency Percent

New Brunswick 29,035 36.5
Newfoundland 14,469 18.2
Nova Scotia 26,537 33.4
Prince Edward Island 9,437 11.9

Total 79,478 100.0

Table 8 ALC Radio Ads Aired by Town and City

Town/City Frequency Percent

Amherst 1,172 1.5
Antigonish 1,229 1.5
Bathurst English 1,194 1.5
Bridgewater 1,168 1.5
Campbellton 1,321 1.7
Caraquet 2,503 3.1
Charlottetown 3,945 5.0
Corner Brook 2,040 2.6
Edmundston 2,425 3.1
Fredericton 3,849 4.8
Gander 2,022 2.5
Goose Bay 357 .4
Grand Falls 2,001 2.5
Grand Falls, NB 1,130 1.4
Halifax 10,909 13.7
Kedgwick/St. Quentin 136 .2
Kentville 2,484 3.1
Marystown 845 1.1
Miramichi 1,155 1.5
Moncton 5,617 7.1
New Glasgow 1,165 1.5
Port Hawkesbury 1,124 1.4
Shediac NB 1,309 1.6


164

St John's 6,003 7.6
St John 4,996 6.3
St Stephen 1,138 1.4
Stephenville 374 .5
Summerside 5,492 6.9
Sussex 1,132 1.4
Sydney 3,850 4.8
Trinity / Conception 827 1.0
Truro 2,262 2.8
Woodstock, NB 1,130 1.4
Yarmouth 1,174 1.5

Total 79,478 100.0

Table 9 ALC Radio Ads by Month

Month Frequency Percent

Jan 2005 4,760 6.0
Feb 2005 5,962 7.5
Mar 2005 2,116 2.7
Apr 2005 2,744 3.5
May 2005 5,279 6.6
June 2005 1,968 2.5
Jul 2005 1,650 2.1
Aug 2005 1,296 1.6
Sep 2005 294 .4
Oct 2005 6,020 7.6
Nov 2005 2,452 3.1
Dec 2005 4,363 5.5
Jan 2006 2,398 3.0
Feb 2006 1,483 1.9
Mar 2006 1,787 2.2
Apr 2006 6,919 8.7
May 2006 2,855 3.6
Jun 2006 3,508 4.4
Jul 2006 2,995 3.8
Aug 2006 4,269 5.4
Sep 2006 2,142 2.7
Oct 2006 1,899 2.4
Nov 2006 4,390 5.5
Dec 2006 5,929 7.5

Total 79,478 100.0



165

Table 10 ALC Gambling Products in Radio Ads

Gambling Product Frequency Percent

Unknown 135 .2
Game Day 1,616 2.0
Lotto 649 40,604 51.1
PayDay 5,035 6.3
Super 7 32,088 40.4

Total 79,478 100.0

Table 11 ALC Radio Ads by Content Themes

Theme Frequency Percent

Retreatism 4 18.2
Normalization 20 90.9
Winning 22 100
Personalization 1 4.5

Table 12 ALC Television Advertising by Vendor

Vendor Frequency Percent

ASN 5,136 16.6
ATV 5,378 17.4
CBAFT 2,341 7.6
CBAT 3 .0
CBC ATLANTIC REGION 3,942 12.7
CBHT 2 .0
CBIT 9 .0
CBNTYT 5,118 16.5
CIHF - HALIFAX 90 .3
CIHF - MONCTON 83 .3
CJCBT 206 .7
CJCH 494 1.6
CJON 4,260 13.8
CKCW 666 2.2
EASTLINK CABLE 163 .5
EASTLINK TV LISTINGS 30 .1
MARITIME TELEVISION NETWORK - GLOBAL 2,986 9.7
ROGERS TV LISTINGS 21 .1

Total 30,928 100.0


166



Table 13 ALC Television Advertising by Region

Region Frequency Percent

National 17,481 56.5
New Brunswick 3,105 10.0
Newfoundland 9,378 30.3
Nova Scotia 964 3.1

Total 30,928 100.0


Table 14 ALC Television Ads by Month

Month Frequency Percent

Jan 2005 1,195 3.9
Feb 2005 1,041 3.4
Mar 2005 1,609 5.2
Apr 2005 1,078 3.5
May 2005 1,279 4.1
June 2005 1,772 5.7
Jul 2005 1,886 6.1
Aug 2005 806 2.6
Sep 2005 838 2.7
Oct 2005 1,233 4.0
Nov 2005 590 1.9
Dec 2005 934 3.0
Jan 2006 1,545 5.0
Feb 2006 801 2.6
Mar 2006 802 2.6
Apr 2006 1,732 5.6
May 2006 1,255 4.1
Jun 2006 1,712 5.5
Jul 2006 1,787 5.8
Aug 2006 746 2.4
Sep 2006 1,465 4.7
Oct 2006 1,883 6.1
Nov 2006 1,419 4.6
Dec 2006 1,520 4.9

Total 30,928 100.0



167

Table 15 ALC Television Ads by Type of Television Program

Television Program Frequency Percent

Sports 848 2.7
Talk Show 2,843 9.2
Comedy 2,211 7.1
Drama 3,095 10.0
Soap Opera 2,808 9.1
Reality TV 540 1.7
News 9,116 29.5
Game Show 1,206 3.9
Movie/Documentary 2,341 7.6
Other 344 1.1
Lifestyle/Human Interest 706 2.3
Entertainment 974 3.1
Unknown 3,896 12.6

Total 30,928 100.0


Table 16 ALC Television Advertising by Product Name


Product Name Frequency Percent

Atlantic 49 1,506 4.9
Bucko 4,106 13.3
Corporate 3,437 11.1
Game Day 1,043 3.4
Lotto 649 4,118 13.3
PayDay 5,073 16.4
Scratch N Win 7,864 25.4
Super 7 3,781 12.2

Total 30,928 100.0

Table 17 ALC Television Advertising by Intended Audience Gender

Gender Frequency Percent

Male 37 41.6
Female 20 22.5
Both Males and Females 20 22.5
No Gender Specified 12 13.5


168





Table 18 ALC Television Advertising by Intended Audience Age

Age Frequency Percent

Adolescents (13-18) 0 0
Ages 19-35 60 67.4
Ages 36-60 12 13.5
Elderly (Over 60) 6 6.7
No Age Specified 11 12.4


Table 19 ALC Television Advertising by Content Theme

Content Theme Frequency Percent

Retreatism 12 13.5
Normalization 56 62.9
Winning 70 78.7
Personal Transformation 8 9.0
Personalization 37 41.6
Community Benefits 15 16.9


Table 20 Casino Print Ads by Newspaper Vendor

Vendor Frequency Percent

The Halifax Herald 18 15.1
The Coast 43 36.1
The Daily News 4 3.4
Bedford Sackville Weekly News 2 1.7
Dartmouth East Cole Harbour 1 .8
Entertainment News 45 37.8
TV Today/TV Guide 1 .8
The Sunday Daily News 4 3.4
The Weekly News 1 .8

Total 119 100.0





169

Table 21 Casino Outdoor Ads by Number of Days Shown

Outdoor Ad Frequency Percent

Kitchen Party 28 3.4
Casino NS 28 3.4
Welcome to Las Vegas, NS 280 34.5
It's Not Vegas... 56 6.9
Player's Club 56 6.9
Really Excited 112 13.8
Some Games Played Away 56 6.9
The Soul of the City 56 6.9
The Night is Also Young 140 17.2


Table 22 Casino Newspaper Ads Shown by Theme

Theme Frequency Percent

Entertainment 98 82.4
Gambling 13 10.9
Both Entertainment & Gambling 5 4.2
Other 3 2.5

Total 119 100.0


Table 23 Casino Radio Ads by Content Themes

Content Theme Frequency Percent

Entertainment 54 93.1
Normalization 48 82.8
Winning 4 6.9

Table 24 Casino Television Ads by Television Channel

Channel Frequency Percent

ATV 156 28.2
ASN 8 1.4
ATV OR ASN (BONUS SPOTS) 253 45.8
GLOBAL 136 24.6

TOTAL 553 100


170


Table 25 Casino Television Ads by Type of Program

Type of Program Frequency Percent

News 78 47.7
Quiz Show 11 6.7
Drama 25 15.2
Talk Show 37 22.6
Comedy 3 1.8
Soap Opera 5 3.0
Entertainment - Music/Dancing 5 3.0

Total 164 100

Table 26 Casino Point of Sale Advertising by Content Themes

Content Theme Frequency Percent

Normalization 115 43.5
Winning 79 29.9
Sexualized Imagery 65 24.6
Entertainment 173 65.5


Table 27 Off-Shore Television Advertising by Type of Program

Type of Program Frequency Percent

Sports 139 30.2
Comedy 33 7.2
Drama 58 12.6
Reality TV 14 3.0
News 15 3.3
Game Show 5 1.1
Movie/Documentary 4 .9
Other 2 .4
Lifestyle/Human Interest 1 .2
Entertainment 36 7.8
Gambling 154 33.4

Total 461 100.0





171

Table 28 Off-Shore Television Advertising by Broadcast Channel

Channel Frequency Percent

52-RSE-Sportsnet East 82 17.8
12 - NBC / WHDH 86 18.7
53 - TSN 51 11.1
55 - SCR - The Score 66 14.3
57 - STAR 9 2.0
11 - CBC 29 6.3
9 - ATV 33 7.2
32 - CBS 21 4.6
6 - Global 24 5.2
31 - ABC 21 4.6
54 - GOLF 39 8.5

Total 461 100.0

Table 29 Off-Shore Ads Aired by Time of Day

Time Frequency Percent

00:00 3:59 223 24.7
04:00 7:59 15 1.6%
08:00 11:59 0 0
12:00 15:59 128 14%
16:00 19:99 169 19%
20:00 23:59 369 40.8%

Total 904 100.0

Table 30 Off-Shore Television Advertising by Frequency of Advertiser

Advertiser Frequency Percent

PokerStars.net 9 14.1
FullTiltPoker.net 18 28.1
Bet21.net 5 7.8
PlayUBT.com 3 4.7
PartyPoker.net 6 9.4
NBCHeadsUp.com 2 3.1
ScorePoker.com 4 6.3
Interpoker.net 2 3.1
Ultimatebet.net 1 1.6
TheScore.ca/fantasy 3 4.7


172

QEII Foundation 2 3.1
Mohegan Sun 2 3.1
IWK Health Centre 1 1.6
Heart and Stroke Foundation 1 1.6
Degreepoker.com 1 1.6
AbsolutePoker.net 1 1.6
Ultimatepokerchallenge.com 1 1.6
Vegaspoker247.com 1 1.6
Woodbine 1 1.6

Total 64 100.0

Table 31 Off-Shore Advertising by Intended Audience

Audience Frequency Percent

Male 48 75
Female 6 9.4
Both Males and Females 5 7.8
No Gender Specified 5 7.8
Adolescents (13-18) 3 4.7
Ages 19-35 43 67.2
Ages 36-60 10 15.6
Elderly (Over 60) 1 1.6
No Age Specified 7 10.9
Established Gamblers 30 46.9
People Learning to Gamble 21 32.8
General/Non-Specific 13 20.3
Ethnic Group 7 10.9



Table 32 Off-Shore Television Ads by Content Themes

Content Theme Frequency Percent

Retreatism 17 26.6
Normalization 32 50
Skill over Luck 34 53.1
Winning 24 37.5
Personal Transformation 27 42.2



173

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