Résumés
Abstract
Gambling advertising’s use of celebrities, humor, and representations of happy people who Win Big, in narratives told in brash colored, high-pitched ads, are argued to increase the risk for gambling problems, or worse, addiction. Online casino ads have been subject to particular legislative attention partly for these reasons, as well as for being increasingly targeted to women who, by some, are judged to be especially vulnerable to such marketing. This paper presents a context-attentive, multimodal discourse analysis of a Swedish online casino brand’s advertising videos from 2014-2022. The study illustrates how general statements regarding risk in relation to (online casino) gambling ads’ content dramatically reduces their potential cultural significance to audiences. It is argued that one should, to a greater extent, treat these adverts as complex and socio-culturally rooted texts whose content may not so easily be written off as simply “risky,” to women or otherwise.
Keywords:
- Feminization,
- multimodal discourse analysis,
- online casino advertising,
- risk,
- Sweden
Parties annexes
Bibliography
- Arvidsson, J. (2018, June 17). Hon “vägrar sälja sig” som Zlatan. Svenska Dagbladet.
- Auer, M. & Griffiths, M. D. (2022). Gambling before and during the COVID-19 pandemic among online casino gamblers: An empirical study using behavioral tracking data. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 20, 1722–1732. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-020-00462-2
- Auer, M., Malischnig, D., & Griffiths, M. D. (2023). Gambling before and during the COVID-19 pandemic among European regular sports bettors: An empirical study using behavioral tracking data. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 21, 20–27. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-020-00327-8
- Billig, M. (1995). Banal nationalism. Sage Publications.
- Binde, P., & Romild, U. (2019). Self-reported negative influence of gambling advertising in a Swedish population-based sample. Journal of Gambling Studies, 35, 709–724. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10899-018-9791-x
- Bouguettaya, A., Lynott, D., Carter, A., Zerhouni, O., Meyer, S., Ladegaard, I., Gardner, J., & O’Brien, K. S. (2020). The relationship between gambling advertising and gambling attitudes, intentions and behaviours: A critical and meta-analytic review. Current Opinion in Behavioural Sciences, 31, 89–101. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cobeha.2020.02.010
- Butkowski, C. P., & Tajima, A. (2017). A critical examination of visualized femininity: Selective inheritance and intensification of gender posing from historical painting to contemporary advertising. Feminist Media Studies, 17(6), 1037–1055. https://doi.org/10.1080/14680777.2017.1300830
- Cassidy, R. (2014). Fair game? Producing and publishing gambling research. International Gambling Studies, 14(3), 345–353. https://doi.org/10.1080/14459795.2014.971420
- Cassidy, R. (2020). Vicious games: Capitalism and gambling. Pluto Press.
- Corney, R., & Davis, J. (2010). The attractions and risks of Internet gambling for women: A qualitative study. Journal of Gambling Issues, 24, 121–139. https://doi.org/10.4309/jgi.2010.24.8
- Deans, E. G., Thomas, S. L., Daube, M., Derevensky, J., & Gordon, R. (2016). Creating symbolic cultures of consumption: An analysis of the content of sports wagering advertisements in Australia. BMC Public Health, 16. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-016-2849-8
- Delfabbro, P., & Parke, J. (2021). Challenges in the measurement of gambling product risk: A critical review of the ASTERIG assessment tool. Journal of Gambling Issues, 47, 378–402. https://doi.org/10.4309/jgi.2021.47.15
- Djohari, N., Weston, G., Cassidy, R., Wemyss, M., & Thomas, S. (2019). Recall and awareness of gambling advertising and sponsorship in sport in the UK: A study of young people and adults. Harm Reduction Journal, 16, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12954-019-0291-9
- Fairclough, N. (1993). Discourse and social change. Polity Press.
- Finansdepartementet. (2020). Ett stärkt spelarskydd till följd av spridningen av sjukdomen covid-19. Fi2020/01934/OU. Avdelningen för offentlig förvaltning. https://www.regeringen.se/contentassets/99851fb083da497e80e3f141b1613ae8/ett-starkt-spelarskydd-till-foljd-av-spridningen-av-sjukdomen-covid-19.pdf
- Finansdepartementet. (2022). En förstärkt spelreglering. Proposition 2021/22:242. https://www.regeringen.se/contentassets/5a92fa31030142d5ae25a9e551b6e355/en-forstarkt-spelreglering-prop.-202122242.pdf
- Folkhälsomyndigheten. (2021a). Fördjupad analys av utvecklingen av spelproblem kopplat till spridningen av covid-19: Återrapportering av ett regeringsuppdrag. https://www.folkhalsomyndigheten.se/contentassets/9b4e31da291345698cff80aafb162758/fordjupad-analys-utvecklingen-spelproblem-kopplat-spridningen-covid-19.pdf
- Folkhälsomyndigheten. (2021b). Vad gör spel riskfyllt? https://www.folkhalsomyndigheten.se/publikationer-och-material/publikationsarkiv/v/vad-gor-ett-spel-riskfyllt/
- Folkhälsomyndigheten. (2022). Resultat från regeringsuppdrag att genomföra en befolkningsstudie om spel om pengar. https://www.folkhalsomyndigheten.se/contentassets/58e8320a52944ef8bd2b013e068e2c5e/resultat-fran-regeringsuppdrag-att-genomfora-en-befolkningsstudie-om-spel.pdf
- Gephart Jr, R. P. (2001). Safe risk in Las Vegas. M@n@gement, 4, 141–158. https://www.cairn.info/revue-management-2001-3-page-141.htm
- Goedecke, K. (2021). “Be soft”: Irony, post feminism, and masculine positions in Swedish sport betting commercials. Men and Masculinities, 24(5), 802–822. https://doi.org/10.1177/1097184X211012739
- Guillou-Landreat, M., Gallopel-Morvan, K., Lever, D., Le Goff, D., & Le Reste, J-Y. (2021). Gambling marketing strategies and the internet: What do we know? A systematic review. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 12, 1–21. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2021.583817
- Gunter, B. (2019). Gambling advertising. Nature, effects and regulation. Emerald Publishing Ltd. https://doi.org/10.1108/9781787699236
- Hall, S. (2013). The work of representation. In S. Hall, J. Evans, & S. Nixon (Eds.), Representation (2nd Ed., pp. 1-47). Sage Publications.
- Hayer, T., Füchtenschnieder, I., Hardeling, A., Landgraf, K., Rehbein, F., Wulf, R., Rumpf, H. J. (2020). Recommendation on gambling advertising during the corona pandemic. Sucht, 66(4), 217–222. https://doi.org/10.1024/0939-5911/a000671
- Hing, N., Russell, A. M.T., Thomas, A., & Jenkinson, R. (2019). Wagering advertisements and inducements: Exposure and perceived influence on betting behaviour. Journal of Gambling Studies, 35, 793–811. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10899-018-09823-y
- Håkansson, A. (2020). Changes in gambling behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic – a web survey study in Sweden. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(11), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17114013
- Håkansson, A., & Widinghoff, C. (2019). Television gambling advertisements: Extent and content of gambling advertisements with a focus on potential high-risk commercial messages. Addictive Behavior Reports, 9, 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.abrep.2019.100182
- Håkansson, A., Mårdhed, E., & Zaar, M. (2017). Who seeks treatment when medicine opens the door to pathological gambling patients— Psychiatric comorbidity and heavy predominance of online gambling. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 8, 1–6. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2017.00255
- Johansson, T. (2019). Älgen – Sveriges nationalsymbol. Skogsvärden. https://www.skogssallskapet.se/kunskapsbank/artiklar/2019-09-18-algen---sveriges-nationalsymbol.html
- Jouhki, J. (2017). The hyperreal gambler: On the visual construction of men in online poker ads. Journal of Extreme Anthropology, 1(3), 83-101. https://doi.org/10.5617/jea.5441
- Killick, E. A., & Griffiths, M. D. (2022). A thematic analysis of sports bettors’ perceptions of sports betting marketing strategies in the UK. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 20, 800–818. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-020-00405-x
- Kress, G. (1987). Educating readers: language in advertising. In J. Hawthorn (Ed.), Propaganda, persuasion and polemic (pp. 123-140). Edward Arnold.
- Kress, G., & van Leeuwen, T. (1996). Reading images: The grammar of visual design. Routledge.
- Kroon, Å. (2020). Converting gambling to philanthropy and acts of patriotism: The case of “The world’s most Swedish gambling company”. Discourse, Context & Media, 34, 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcm.2020.100381
- Kroon, Å., & Lundmark, S. (2020). Svenska folkets spelande och attityder till reklam för nätcasinon. In U. Andersson, A. Carlander, & P. Öhberg (Eds.), Regntunga skyar. SOM-undersökningen 2019 (pp. 383-399). Göteborg: Göteborgs universitet, SOM-institutet.
- Lamont, M., Hing, N., & Vitartas, P. (2016). Affective response to gambling promotions during televised sport: A qualitative analysis. Sport Management Review, 19(3), 319–331. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.smr.2015.06.002
- Lasswell, H. D. (1927). Propaganda technique in the world war. Peter Smith.
- Ledin, P., & Machin, D. (2018). Doing visual analysis: From theory to practice. Sage Publications.
- Ledin, P., & Machin, D. (2020). Introduction to multimodal analysis. Bloomsbury.
- Leyda, J., & Brinch, S. (2020). Anthropocene slow TV: Temporalities of extinction in Svalbard. Journal of Scandinavian Cinema, 10(3), 297–309. https://doi.org/10.1386/jsca_00033_1
- Livingstone, S. (1996). On the continuing problem of media effect research. In J. Curran & M. Gurevitch (Eds.), Mass media and society (pp. 305–324). Edward Arnold.
- Lopez-Gonzalez, H., Estévez, A., & Griffiths, M. D. (2018). Controlling the illusion of control: A grounded theory of sports betting advertising in the UK. International Gambling Studies, 18, 39–55. https://doi.org/10.1080/14459795.2017.1377747
- Lury, C. (2004). Brands: The logos of the global economy. Routledge.
- Machin, D. (2013). What is multimodal critical discourse studies? Critical Discourse Studies, 10(4), 347–355. https://doi.org/10.1080/17405904.2013.813770
- Machin, D., & Mayr, A. (2012). How to do critical discourse analysis. Sage Publications.
- McCarthy, S., Thomas, S. L., Bellringer, M. E., & Cassidy, R. (2019). Women and gambling-related harm: a narrative literature review and implications for research, policy, and practice. Harm Reduction Journal, 16, 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12954-019-0284-8
- McMullan, J. L., & Miller, D. (2009). Wins, winning and winners: The commercial advertising of lottery gambling. Journal of Gambling Studies, 25, 273–295. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10899-009-9120-5
- Nicoll, F., & Akcayir, M. (2020). Editorial. Critical Gambling Studies, 1(1), i-vii. https://doi.org/10.29173/cgs47
- Nicoll, F., & Albarrán-Torres, C. (2022). ‘Almost the same but not quite’: The camouflage of play in digital gambling iconography. Critical Gambling Studies, 3(2), 160–173. https://doi.org/10.29173/cgs78
- Nicoll, F., & Johnson R. M. (2019, August 21). The Walking Dead: Conflicts of interest in gambling and video gaming reviewing. Critical Gambling Studies. https://doi.org/10.29173/cgs11
- Palmer du Preez, K., Thurlow, R. & Bellringer, M. (2021). Women in gambling studies: A poststructural analysis. Addiction Research & Theory, 29(4), 327–337. https://doi.org/10.1080/16066359.2020.1840559
- Parke, A., Harris, A., Parke, J., Rigbye, J., & Blaszczynski, A. (2014). Responsible marketing and advertising in gambling: A critical review. The Journal of Gambling Business and Economics, 8(3), 21–35. https://doi.org/10.5750/jgbe.v8i3.972
- Pedroni, M. (2018). “Let me dream with the betting sheet in my hand”: Gambling advertising narratives and the destigmatisation of gamblers. In P. Bray, & M. Rzepecka (Eds.), Communication and conflict in multiple settings (pp. 183–202). Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004373679_009
- Peren, F. W. (2011). Assessment tool to measure and evaluate the risk potential of gambling products: ASTERIG. Gaming Law Review and Economics, 15(11), 671–679. https://doi.org/10.1089/glre.2011.151107
- Phillips, B. J. (1996). Advertising and the cultural meaning of animals. In K. P. Corfman, & J. G. Lynch Jr. (Eds.), Advances in consumer research (pp. 354–360). Association for Consumer Research.
- Price, A. (2022). Online gambling in the midst of COVID-19: a nexus of mental health concerns, substance use and financial stress. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 20, 362–379. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-020-00366-1
- Puijk, R. (2021). Slow TV. An analysis of minute-by-minute television in Norway. Intellect Books.
- Samuelsson, E., Wennberg, P., & Sundqvist, K. (2019). Gamblers’ (mis-) interpretations of problem gambling severity index items: Ambiguities in qualitative accounts from the Swedish longitudinal gambling study. Nordic Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 36(2), 140–160. https://doi.org/10.1177/1455072519829407
- Scannell, P. (1989). Public service broadcasting and modern public life. Media, Culture & Society, 11(2), 135–166. https://doi.org/10.1177/016344389011002002
- Spellag (2018:1138). Finansdepartementet. https://www.riksdagen.se/sv/dokument-lagar/dokument/svensk-forfattningssamling/spellag-20181138_sfs-2018-1138
- Statens offentliga utredningar (2020:77). Ökat skydd och stärkt reglering på den omreglerade spelmarknaden: Slutbetänkande av Spelmarknadsutredningen. Norstedts Juridik.
- Thompson, J. B. (1995). The media and modernity. Stanford University Press.
- Torrance, J., John, B., Greville, J., O’Hanrahan, M., Davies, N., & Roderique-Davies, G. (2021). Emergent gambling advertising; A rapid review of marketing content, delivery and structural features. BMC Public Health, 21, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-021-10805-w
- Trendrapporten. (2021). Hemmets nya betydelse. Svensk Fastighetsförmedling. https://www.svenskfast.se/contentassets/92867eb86a0b4efbabe1d966b7e0be89/trendrapport-2021---svensk-fastighetsformedling.pdf
- van Leeuwen, T. (2008). Discourse and practice: New tools for critical analysis. Oxford University Press.
- Venne, D., Mazar, A., & Volberg, R. (2020). Gender and gambling behaviors: A comprehensive analysis of (dis)similarities. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 18, 1181–1195. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-019-00116-y
- Volberg, R. (2003). Has there been a “feminization” of gambling and problem gambling in the United States? Journal of Gambling Issues, 8, 1–33. https://doi.org/10.4309/jgi.2003.8.7
- Wardle, H. (2017). The re-feminisation of gambling: social, cultural and historical insights into female gambling behaviour in Great Britain. In H. Bowden-Jones, & F. Prever (Eds.), Gambling disorders in women: An international female perspective on treatment and research (pp. 173–186). Routledge.