"Online"

9 February 2017

60s

When The Fun Stops

Online gambling can have hidden dangers beyond losing a few quid on a football match, and this unsettling ad for GambleAware brings that home hard.

The key to this film is a masterful vocal performance from a man sitting on the desk in a young woman's spartan bedroom. His presence - and his choice of seat - immediately signal that something is very badly wrong with the scenario. As he speaks - wheedling, insistent, menacing - she listens, and the contrast between her silence and his flow of words creates a palpable tension.

We realise that he is, in fact, the embodiment of her laptop. He is trying to tempt her back online to gamble. And in her depressing environment, we can understand the desire for escape.

The casting, the direction, the sound design... everything has been carefully weighted to provide the maximum impact without tipping over into melodrama. Previous ads have featured a version of Ram Jam's 'Black Betty', and felt rather flippant. But this approach gets under our skin - we genuinely feels anxious when the woman gives in to the siren call of the bingo sites.

Given the current bombardment of TV advertising for online betting, this cautionary tale has come not a moment too soon... let's hope it pulls at least some of the vulnerable up short and enables them to admit they need help.

UK

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