Gaming industry offers guidelines for casino ads

Gary Thompson

Thursday, Sept. 16, 1999 | 10:39 a.m.

The American Gaming Association has established voluntary advertising guidelines to help casino marketers access public airways effectively and avoid stirring up opposition from industry critics.

The move by the AGA, the Washington, D.C.-based lobbying arm of the casino industry, follows a U.S. Supreme Court decision this year upholding First Amendment free-speech protection for casinos.

The high court held that a Federal Communications Commission regulation barring television broadcasters from showing gambling activity in casino advertising violated the Constitution.

In a panel discussion on the new guidelines Wednesday, Mirage Resorts Inc. Vice President Alan Feldman noted the ruling came in the midst of the National Gambling Impact Study Commission's two-year probe of the gaming industry.

"These have been very challenging years for the industry because the study was politically driven, not fact-driven," he said during a session at the World Gaming Congress & Expo.

Gaming opponents will continue to attack casinos, which must avoid airing controversial or misleading ads that could give critics more ammunition, Feldman said, adding,"We have to be mindful we have targets on our backs."

"We now have a product we weren't allowed to promote over electronic media," said Lori Hutzler, public relations director of the Isle of Capri casino in Biloxi, Miss.

She and Feldman said the FCC prohibition had created a perception that gaming operators were being disingenuous by "covering up" gambling activity and promoting only dining and entertainment amenities at hotel-casinos.

Now casinos have to strive to create ads that encourage responsible gaming and avoid appeals to children and minors. And to forestall attacks by other federal regulatory agencies such as the Federal Trade Commission, the industry has to be serious about self-regulation, said Debra Goldstein.

Goldstein, general counsel of Bates Advertising USA, recounted the FTC's war on deceptive advertising aimed at children and the response by ad industry leaders who set up an independent advisory board.

The panel included advertising executives, educators and members of the general public who kept abreast of societal changes that might affect the guidelines. Goldstein cited examples of personal-hygiene products frequently advertised today that were considered too controversial for TV viewers a few years ago.

The children's ad panel reviews TV spots to help develop a consistent, acceptable approach to ads and provides a vehicle for accepting complaints from the competitors or the public.

"You've taken the first step by establishing these (casino-advertising) guidelines," Goldstein said. "Now the tough part is getting a commitment from the top management of your companies to create a mechanism to review casino ads, give advice and create consistent and objective decisions about what works and what doesn't.

"It's very important the public and the politicians know this is working, that the claims you're making are true," she said. "If we don't take control, it will be forced upon us by the government. We must show politicians we are serious about regulating ourselves."

Dennis Eckart, a former Ohio congressman now with the Washington law firm of Arter & Hadden, said the gaming industry must be responsible with its ads.

"If we find ourselves backed into a corner by having to defend our ads, we've lost the debate in the political arena because politicians believe perception is reality," he said. "We will be measured politically by a different standard -- as a Jerry Springer with a deck of cards."

He urged casinos to highlight their "commitment in the communities in which we do business, localizing and personalizing the national debate."

"Let the facts and your performance in your communities overwhelm the opposition," Eckart said.

In an earlier panel discussion moderated by AGA President Frank Fahrenkopf, pollster Peter Hart said Americans' perception of gaming has changed over the past few decades for several reasons.

"The industry has been telling its story, and is now seen as responsible," Hart said. "Personal exposure has been a major factor, as seven of 10 adults in this country have had a gaming experience within the past 12 months. And people want a right to make their own choices about how they spend their own money."

Another panelist, MGM Grand Inc. Chairman Terry Lanni, explained his rationale for a vote against a ban on Internet gambling during his tenure on the National Gambling Impact Study Commission.

"I don't know how you can control it, especially on an international basis," Lanni said. "You can get a credit card from Barclay's Bank in London and get payments (for winning wagers) credited to it from the Turks and Caicos islands," where some cyberspace casino operators are based.

He predicted Internet gambling would become "massive," but said, "I suspect it won't have the negative effect on Atlantic City or Las Vegas that some people fear."