{"id":318617,"date":"2024-04-29T17:51:11","date_gmt":"2024-04-29T22:51:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=318617"},"modified":"2024-04-30T09:09:37","modified_gmt":"2024-04-30T14:09:37","slug":"888-campaign-becomes-political-football-in-london-mayoral-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/888-campaign-becomes-political-football-in-london-mayoral-race\/","title":{"rendered":"888 Ad Campaign Becomes Political Football in London Mayoral Race"},"content":{"rendered":"

Online gambling giant 888<\/a> has agreed to pull part of its new ad campaign from London\u2019s public transport system after it became a political football for opponents of the city\u2019s incumbent mayor Sadiq Khan<\/a> (Labour Party). <\/span><\/p>\n

\"888
Conservative Party candidate Susan Hall is using 888\u2019s campaign as a stick with which to beat London Mayor Sadiq Khan. Halls is questioning why Transport for London has previously banned promotions for artisan cheese but chose to approve the in-your-face online gambling ads. (Image: Evening Standard<\/em>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The 888<\/a> campaign rolled out over the past few weeks on trains, buses, taxis, and the London Underground, the UK capital\u2019s subway network. It bears slogans such as \u201cthis carriage is now a casino\u201d and \u201cthis bus is now a casino.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

A week before the London mayoral election, the tone of the campaign has sparked criticism of Transport for London\u2019s (TfL) advertising policy, and the buck stops with the mayor, according to his opponents.<\/span><\/p>\n

‘Baffling Londoners’<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Khan\u2019s Conservative Party rival, Susan Hall pointed out that TfL previously banned advertising for artisan cheese and a promotion for the Wimbledon tennis championships that featured strawberries and cream. That was on the grounds that these foods were unhealthy. She queried why ads for online casinos were then OK. <\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Sadiq Khan\u2019s inconsistency in what [ads] he allows and what ones he bans is baffling for Londoners,\u201d Hall, told The Guardian. “<\/i>He is \u2026 banning adverts featuring cheese or strawberries and cream, while being completely relaxed about vaping and gambling.” <\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

“We need a common sense, clear approach to this, not one that allows the mayor \u2026 to play favorites,\u201d she suggested.<\/span><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the Peers for Gambling Reform group in the House of Lords, Britain\u2019s upper house, called the ads \u201caggressive\u201d and contradictory to Khan\u2019s 2021 manifesto pledge, which promised to ban gambling promotions on the London Underground.<\/span><\/p>\n

Making a Scene<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Aside from the campaign\u2019s unintended political backlash, ordinary Londoners have reported finding the ads brash and resent being informed their chosen mode of transport is a casino.<\/p>\n

The UK gambling industry has taken steps to tone down its advertising in recent years to ward off tightening regulatory controls and prevent inflaming gambling critics. In fact, this is exactly the kind of scene it has carefully sought to avoid creating.<\/p>\n

Sensing it had slipped up, 888 told The Guardian<\/em> Friday it would withdraw \u201csome\u201d of the ads, without saying which ones.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWe continuously listen to feedback regarding the effectiveness of our advertising campaigns and acknowledge that, whilst fully compliant with all advertising regulations and standards, our latest campaign could be interpreted in a different manner to the brand position we aim for,\u201d a company spokesperson said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a result, we have decided to change the focus of this campaign and are withdrawing certain adverts that are currently running,\u201d they added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Online gambling giant 888 has agreed to pull part of its new ad campaign from London\u2019s public transport system after it became a political football for opponents of the city\u2019s incumbent mayor Sadiq Khan (Labour Party). The 888 campaign rolled out over the past few weeks on trains, buses, taxis, and the London Underground, the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":318618,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,61,84511],"tags":[90703,86785,90704,90705,90706],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n888 Campaign Becomes Political Football in London Mayoral Race<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"888 ad campaign will be partially pulled from London transport system after causing controversy for London Mayor Sadiq Khan.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/888-campaign-becomes-political-football-in-london-mayoral-race\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"888 Campaign Becomes Political Football in London Mayoral Race\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"888 ad campaign will be partially pulled from London transport system after causing controversy for London Mayor Sadiq Khan.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/888-campaign-becomes-political-football-in-london-mayoral-race\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-04-29T22:51:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-04-30T14:09:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/sadiq.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@casinoorgphilc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/888-campaign-becomes-political-football-in-london-mayoral-race\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/888-campaign-becomes-political-football-in-london-mayoral-race\/\",\"name\":\"888 Campaign Becomes Political Football in London Mayoral Race\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/888-campaign-becomes-political-football-in-london-mayoral-race\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/888-campaign-becomes-political-football-in-london-mayoral-race\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/sadiq.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-04-29T22:51:11+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-04-30T14:09:37+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\"},\"description\":\"888 ad campaign will be partially pulled from London transport system after causing controversy for London Mayor Sadiq Khan.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/888-campaign-becomes-political-football-in-london-mayoral-race\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/888-campaign-becomes-political-football-in-london-mayoral-race\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/888-campaign-becomes-political-football-in-london-mayoral-race\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/sadiq.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/sadiq.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":800,\"caption\":\"Conservative Party candidate is using 888\u2019s campaign as a stick with which to beat London Mayor Sadiq Khan. 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