BT Sport’s Matt Smith and former footballers Dean Saunders and Danny Gabbidon take part in the GambleAware ad to try and prevent young men developing a gambling addiction.
The trio of ads, the biggest ever national public health campaign of its kind, are the first works by M&C Saatchi since winning the account in July last year.
Research by GambleAware found that out of 3.7 million men in the UK aged 16 to 44, 58% said that they “sometimes make impulsive bets in the heat of the moment”, and 47% said that they made bets they knew they shouldn’t.
The ads are directed by Gorgeous TV’s Chris Palmer, and involve men attempting to hide their betting addiction. Below is one of the ads, which will launch during the Manchester United vs Liverpool game on Sunday 24 February.
Another ad questions those making bets on teams they know little about. A drunk man thinks about betting on a Central American Cup fixture before he’s transported to Panama and mocked in Spanish by local pundits.
The third ad, which will coincide with Cheltenham Racecourse festival on March 9, features a bored office worker betting on a horse race.
The tagline for the campaign is “You’ll Bet Regret It.”
Charles Dearing