Ladbrokes commits 4m to TV ad push
Ladbrokes is launching two television campaigns in March and April. The company says the move follows the success of its inaugural television drive last year.
The gambling company will air a £2m campaign for the Labrokesbingo.com website later this month and in April a further £2 million will be spent on television ads for Ladbrokescasino.com, its online casino offering.
Ladbrokes says it has seen a rise of 25.4% in football betting stakes since it ran its first television ads in October. The company was the first betting operator to run television advertising after the rules on gambling advertising were relaxed after the introduction of the Gambling Act 2005 in September last year.
The ad, created by M&C Saatchi, featured former footballers Ian Wright and Ally McCoist (pictured) became a test case on the new rules on gambling advertising after the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) received complaints that the use of celebrities could influence young people to gamble. The complaints were not upheld and the ad was cleared (MW December 20, 2007).
The ads for Ladbrokes online casino arm are shot in a documentary style. They depict three stories where people go to increasing extremes to satisfy their need for excitement with comical, yet fatal results.
