FanDuel Casino recently adopted a new advertising method. It contracted Mischief @ No Fixed Address to promote it, but the marketing materials have attracted many complaints.
The gaming operator's new marketing materials' main theme is winning, as betting causes an emotional high. Yet, this aspect can adversely affect players battling with compulsive betting behavior.
The Marketing Materials Create a Winning Feeling
David Gianatasio compiled some of FanDuel Casino's materials, including video ads illustrating how someone feels after winning bets. He talked to some people about the new marketing campaign at Mischief @ No Fixed Address and FanDuel. Some of them revealed what inspired the gaming operator to use the promotion strategy.
Kevin Mulroy, a Mischief @ No Fixed Address partner, stated that their core insight is that winning is awesome, but the feeling it creates has a bigger impact on players. They went to a deeper level and discovered that a player feels like they have won when they are optimistic that they will win a bet.
Winning triggers the brain to release more endorphins despite the size of the payout someone gets. Daniele Philips, FanDuel Brand Vice President, claimed that one of their goals was to improve this type of advertising that is usually offer-driven. They wanted to create emotional adverts without picking a celebrity to be their ambassador.
FanDuel and Mischief @ No Fixed Address started the marketing collaboration in July, aiming at differentiating various online casino products. But, the strategy doesn't consider problem gambling.
An Insight into Gambling Addiction
Philips and Mulroy refer to the emotional high a player gets after winning, and it is also common among people battling with gambling addiction. Mulroy claims that the brain's production of chemicals linked with betting experiences leads to betting addiction.
Algamus Gambling Treatment explains that dopamine is the key chemical that causes a "player's high." It normally results in substance use addiction in some people and compulsive gambling in others.
Betting activates the reward system inside the brain that is linked to motivation and pleasure centers hence releasing dopamine. The Gateway Foundation agrees with Algamus' statements and develops this concept further.
It explains that gambling addiction gradually develops into a neurological concern. The brain starts developing dopamine tolerance as a player continues gambling more. Its systems become overused after a while, and the bettor stops having "good feelings" when they wager the same amounts.
People who crave more dopamine opt to take bigger risks once their brains' reward systems get blunted, to get the same feeling. The National Library of Medicine conducted a popular study revealing the link between betting and triggering the reward system. It focused on how controlling the participants' dopamine levels in their blood influenced their betting decisions.
The library discovered that people with more dopamine took bigger risks than those with low dopamine levels. The mischief @ No Fixed Address' campaign calls out the same betting experience concept.
What Makes FanDuel Casino's Marketing Materials Dangerous for Gamblers?
FanDuel urges people to gamble to feel good, a move that some scientists criticize and refer to as being irresponsible and predatory. Some of the casino games' winning odds are low, thus requiring players to spend a lot of money on them to get the 'good feeling.'
