The Dutch Gaming Authority, Kansspelautoriteit (KSA), has issued a warning to JOI Gaming Ltd for using celebrities for marketing purposes at Jack’s Racing Day event.
According to the regulator, a number of marketing campaigns by the JVH Gaming subsidiary around last year’s annual single day event included people who are considered to be role models in the Dutch community.
Currently, the use of role models in gambling advertising is forbidden under the regulatory framework. An example of how JOI breached the rules involves several occasions where these role models were signing Jack’s Racing Day-branded caps.
Concerns were also raised when photos were uploaded on social media where the celebrities were posing with event staff, who wore Jack’s logo uniforms.
The ensuing KSA warning requested these posts to be taken down, otherwise JOI will face a penalty of €50k per day – for a total of €250k. In the case of a repeated offence concerning the same event, the firm will then face a €200k per day penalty, for a maximum of €1m.
Looking at the restrictions in place against the use of role models for marketing for casinos and online gaming, the KSA says that they’re in place to protect vulnerable groups such as young people.
The Netherlands looks at player protection quite seriously, with the country’s gambling regulator recently tightening the personal data processing of CRUKS – the Dutch self-exclusion scheme.
There are also fresh reforms to the Remote Gambling (KOA) Act coming up this October, which will be implemented by the new Dick Schoof cabinet and carried over from the previous policies of former Legal Protection Minister Franc Weerwind.
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