I tried to warn you Neopets - National Prime Time Television Exposure Begins To Force Action

Following yesterday's Herald-Sun article, last night Australian national current affairs program "Today Tonight" on one of Australia's commercial networks, the Seven Network did a story titled "Parents no McHappy over pokie toy." (Here is a link to a page on the story on the Today Tonight website and here a pdf of the article stored on our server.)

I warned Neopets last week to remove the gambling functionality from their site or it was not unforseen that media attention would occur. Well that has now happened, and the consequences are that according to the Today Tonight article McDonalds is considering forcing Neopets to remove the gambling content.

Since this Today Tonight article I have received comments from Neopets users criticising my stance:

From Sharon Ling

This is totally ridiculous!!!! Thanks for ruining a game i love to play. This game does not encourage gambling..it is a small part of a great game for children that has lots of great games and its free. This site is one of the safe sites that is on the net for children. If you dont want your children to play ,dont let them, dont ruin it for the rest of us.

I thought this was a free country but clearly i was wrong..
Enraged neoholic!!

From Kaylee (Three Comments)

That is so wrong!! Neopets contains hardly any source of gambling. If you dont like it then stay away from it you idiot!! All the information that the silly mother and son gave on Today Tonight was all completely wrong, neopets is a fun safe website!!

OMG they do not have party chat boards which talk about frenchin and kissing!! You are full of **** I think you need to get your facts straight before posting rediculous articles such as this!!

this is so not true!!! there are heaps of games other than those games you listed to play. How can you say that it leads to serious gambling problems in real life!! you are so stupid i hate all of you!!! Neopets does not promote advertise(whatever) gambling in any way so just lay off and go home you loser!!

From Amy

This is an outrage!! Neopets is a harmless safe site which does not promote gambling. Stop telling lies before you ruin it for everyone

Before I respond to these comments, I want to say that I am not scared of criticism or debate on this issue. In fact I actually encourage it. I would like the community to debate gambling as an issue more and if I can get people expressing their opinions whether good or bad on gambling and thinking about the issues and consequences then I am succeeding. Also I am not anti-gambling, however I am responsible gambling - believe that people should be educated to make informed choices about their gambling. They should have access to real, genuine understandable information on gambling and understand the consequences. Most people who gamble occasionally as a form of entertainment are fine and experience little to no harm however their are many in our community where gambling becomes a significant problem. Also gambling from an early age is shown to be a precursor to problem gambling later in life, in addition to 18-24 year olds being over-represented as problem gamblers. So I encourage comments on anything I write and feel that people should be comfortable in expressing their opinions.

To Sharon - Children do not need to gamble to have fun. I don't have any problem with most of the Neopets site however their is no need for gambling to be present. It is true their are lots of other games, so why do they need gambling. Also everyone needs to realise that although Neopets started as a game when it was turned into a business concept its primary objective was to promote advertising.

The following is from the Neopets Press Kit

Immersive Advertising
In early 2000, when Neopets.com was in its very early stages, the Company envisioned a new form of advertising to support the growth and development of the website; advertising that would be different from the pervasive, and oftentimes offensive, pop-up and banner ads that were the norm throughout the Internet advertising industry. This new integrated advertising method incorporates the advertiser's brand, service and/or message directly into entertaining site content, thereby creating brand affinity with site members, rather than brand rejection that can result from offensive pop-ups and banners. The Company's integrated advertising, trademarked Immersive Advertising®, is an evolutionary step forward in the traditional marketing practice of product placement used in television and motion pictures. The Company's Immersive Advertising permits Neopets to integrate advertisers' products, services, and brands into highly-customized activities within the Neopets.com website.


Research has shown that, in part due to the diversity and richness of Neopets' interactive and entertaining content, repeat exposure to these branded Immersive Advertising activities creates a positive and long-lasting brand impression with site members. Neopets' creative professionals customize each Immersive Advertising campaign to showcase the product's unique attributes, to reach effectively the desired target audience.

So while you don't pay anything in dollars, Neopets and its advertisers are getting exactly what they want from you.

To Kaylee - Anyone can see that Neopets has gambling games and that they are accessible by children. This is not lies and as an example the Herlad-Sun did an investigation going in as an under eight year old and could access it. Stephanie Yost-Cameron of Neopets also admittted they offered gambling games on their site.

The quote about the chat rooms was taken from a rewiew on another site and the source was cited (link provided). If you have issue with the quote I suggest you respond on that site.

Research has shown that normalising gambling behaviour at a young age especially without understanding the potential consequences that can occur in real life can lead to problems later in life. In the Today Tonight story, child psychologist Michael Carr-Greg also detailed this.

As for being a loser, like anyone that has gambled over time you will lose, including me. So I guess like 99.9% of gamblers I am a loser, but unfortunately others who have had issues with gambling have lost more than money - homes, relationships, families, friends - people really do need to think of what they are really gambling with.

To Amy - Again it is not lies. By making gambling games available to children in a form that they are attracted to they are promoting gambling and normalising gambling behaviour.

Like I mentioned above, I encourage comments and feedback. Discussion and debate on this issue can only help. Part of my role is to encourage the community to become informed, think about the issues, and advocate and promote changes that will reduce the potential for harm from gambling to the community.

Action on issues like Neopets and previously the Bratzpack site, are elements of harm prevention in that they prevent the development of behaviours that may not show consequences now, but may later in life.

Also I would like to thank people around the world such as Raj in South Africa and Linda and Carmel here in Victoria for their positive feedback, it is very encouraging.

I will continue to try and bring attention to issues around the world that may contribute to harm from gambling, with a greater focus on issues here in Victoria. However these opinions are mine alone and whilst I believe that they are aligned with with views of Gambler's Help Southern this cannot be taken for granted.

Gambling is a big issue - and their is more that needs to be done.

GG