Television advertising about online gambling: narratives and strategies

The investment in advertising on online gaming has presented a significant increase in recent years while the number of players and registered users keeps growing. We propose a line of an academic research that analyzes this fact in order to know the advertising that is spreading, and to establish a relationship between the increase of the sector and this type of persuasive communication. We propose an analysis of the content of advertising about online gaming on a sample of advertisements that have been broadcast, or are being broadcast at the moment, on television in Spain. The study includes a corpus that covers the most involved segments: bingo, bookmakers and online casinos. The study confirms that it is not just "advertising" but a series of very elaborate campaigns, where there has being used a well-defined and executed resources and strategies. The promotion of online gaming through advertising that is broadcast on television, raises contradictory and controversial ethical assessments in which minors and teenagers become the most vulnerable public.