Brazil’s Government has introduced the new package of advertising restrictions for licensed betting operators which was announced recently.
Published by the Ministry of Finance, the new measures will now require all licensed operators to display one of three official warnings in every advertisement:
“Betting can cause addiction,” “Betting makes you lose money,” or “Betting is not an investment.”
The warnings must appear horizontally, remain clearly legible and occupy at least 10% of the advertisement’s overall size, a warning format that has drawn comparisons with public health messaging already used for alcohol and tobacco advertising, as promised by the Finance Minister.
Alongside the mandatory warnings, a separate ordinance, which has already taken effect, introduces new restrictions on advertising content.
Operators are prohibited from portraying betting as a path to financial, personal or social success, and, besides, advertisements may no longer encourage excessive gambling or suggest betting can be used as a source of income or investment in any form.
The new rules also place greater emphasis on consumer protection
Responsibility for investigating potential breaches will fall to Brazil’s National Consumer Secretariat (Senacon), while Finance Minister Dario Durigan has previously confirmed that operators failing to comply could face financial penalties, temporary suspension of their activities or, in the most serious cases, the loss of their operating license.
Bernardo Cavalcanti Freire, legal consultant for the National Association of Games and Lotteries (ANJL), supported the measure as a sign of market maturation
“The measures continue the sector's self-regulation, which involves learning about the best forms of responsible advertising. This is the trend for the coming months: the improvement of advertising, based on a clear demonstration of what the sector is, that is, highlighting that betting is entertainment, not a profit-making mechanism,” he states.
Recently, Brazil’s Federal Government also launched a WhatsApp campaign designed to inform bettors about self-exclusion tools, treatment resources and responsible gambling support
