Sofia, February 26, 2018
NGOs, members of the National Network for Children, sent an open letter to responsible institutions in order to alarm them about the risk of encouraging children and young people towards gambling by the advertisement from “Chocolate Ticket by the National Lottery – 7777.bg”. BFPA is not only a part of the initiative, but also as an organization working in the field of health prevention and health education finds it’s especially important to work for dependency prevention, including gambling addiction and also for preventing eating disorders in adolescent girls, who are very susceptible to anorexia, for example. The advertisement disseminates messages, unsuitable for children and young people in those two senses – that chocolate shouldn’t be eaten, “we only smell it”, and that scratch cards are an essential part of everyday life and the main way to prosperity. Here are some parts of the letter to the institutions:
“For several weeks Bulgarian TV stations are airing an advertisement with the participation of children and young people who are defined as “pride of the nation” and who set an example for other young people to purchase lottery tickets. We from the National Network for Children – a network of 150 organizations in Bulgaria, consider this a blatant violation of the ethical and legal standards which protect children and young people from threats for their development and from abuse.
The advertisement openly encourages children and young people to engage in gambling – scratch cards with the alluring name “Chocolate”, by employing the influential example of the girls from the National rhythmic gymnastics team. Even if we accept that all participants in the advertisement are above 18 years of age, it still creates the impression of children and young people taking part in the video, who are seen as an example by other children, who are watching it. On the other hand, those exact young people, who are putting a lot of effort in sport and in school, are encouraged to take part in an advertisement for profiting from gambling, which is derogatory and disrespectful of their hard work and effort.
We sincerely hope that the joint effort of government institutions and civil society will lead to restricting the unacceptable encouragement of children to engage in gambling. We believe that the existence of ethical and legal standards has a point only if they are implemented in practice and do not allow situations where the profit of certain individuals is more important than the risks for the development of children and young people in Bulgaria.
