Singapore’s recent anti-gambling ad campaign didn’t produce its desired effect after Germany won this year’s FIFA World Cup.
According to a July 15 Irrawaddy article, the government-created public service announcement which debuted last month depicts two young boys sitting next to each other, wearing soccer uniforms.
One of the boys is shown telling the other that he hopes Germany wins, because his father had used all of his son’s savings to bet on the team’s victory in the World Cup. Beneath the photo, the message “Often, the people who suffer from problem gambling aren’t the gamblers.” is depicted.
While the ad was obviously meant to show the negative impacts gambling can have on the gamblers’ families, it gradually became an international punchline as Germany continually defeated its opponents in the tournament, reports Irrawaddy.
“Cheer up, kid, your dad bet on Germany,” Jimmy Fallon said on The Tonight Show after Germany won over host country Brazil by 7-1. “He’s so rich you don’t even need to go to college anymore.”
Singapore’s government eventually responded not by pulling the ads, but by creating new ones featuring the same two children as a way to hit back at the country’s prominent gambling culture, which frequently uses total or over/under betting for sports events that determines whether a gambler will win based on his or her guess of the combined point total in a game.
“Your dad’s team won. Did you get your savings back?” the boy’s friend asks him.
“No, Dad never stops … he wants to bet one more time,” the boy replies.