Camelot’s ads never target the under-18s

Although your article “Government hedges its bets” (MW last week) correctly stated that over-16s can play the lottery, you failed to note that Camelot has a clear policy of not marketing to those under 18. National Lottery advertising is deliberately scheduled to run at times when under-18s are less likely to be watching.

You cite scratchcards based on Connect 4 and Monopoly as examples of lottery games with “youth appeal”. In fact, we marketed these games on a nostalgia peg, as they were based on brands people would be familiar with from their youth. All of them also carried prominent messages about under-age play.

Recent research shows that 65% of 16- to 24-year-olds play the National Lottery regularly, with 70% of over-65s playing on a regular basis, in line with our policy of maximising returns to good causes in a socially responsible way.

We do indeed face a demanding target for London 2012 fundraising. But with about 70% of the UK adult population playing regularly, we are confident we will reach &£1.5bn, and we will do so without any change to our policy of not proactively targeting the under-18s.

Phil Smith

Commercial and operations director

Camelot Group

Watford