by Renee Israel
Camelot, the official operator of the UK national lottery, has come under
fire for the themes used in its latest scratch card games.
Camelot has been accused of trying to target a younger market in the hope of
selling more scratch cards and lottery tickets.
Themes of the new scratch card games include Monopoly and Pac Man, and their
bright animations and childish graphics are said to appeal more to youngsters.
The Daily Mail has pointed out that the scratch cards are usually
strategically placed near gum and sweets, where youngsters are prone to head to
in a store, and, together with the fact that the minimum age for buying scratch
cards is 16, it could be very easy for a child who is even younger to purchase
these instant-win cards.
The newspapers quoted Paddy O'Donnell, a Professor of Psychology from the
University of Glasgow who said: "Initially, the theme of a scratch card is very
important because it is what first attracts a young person. It's very much like
alcopops - they are packaged in an attractive way to get young people engaged
and once they are hooked they switch to other forms of alcohol."
He said that "once a child gets a buzz of a scratch card it can become a
gateway into other more serious forms of gambling."
Children Buy UK Scratch Cards
A recent report published by the Gambling Commission found that 7% of
children in the 11 to 15 year old age group said that they had spent their own
money purchasing a scratch card in the past week.
While the National Lottery Commission has ruled that themes on scratch cards
should not appeal to anyone under the age of 16, the lottery group has been
slammed for its recent themes, including one based on the popular
children's board game, Mousetrap, which is enjoyed by youngsters as young as
six.
Camelot has defended its position, saying that the childish themes are "more
likely to appeal to adults in a 'retro' sense than a modern fourteen or fifteen
year old who is unlikely to consider a board game cool."
Camelot's spokesperson did say, however, that if a particular game is found
to be causing problems, action will be taken immediately and the group
ultimately has the power to have games removed from sale.
The spokesperson added that there was no evidence that the latest Camelot
games were attractive to children under 16 and, if this had been the case, the
games would not have been approved by the National Lottery Commission which
oversees the launch of all new titles.
There is 1 comment 
