Gambling promo featuring children sparks outrage - TimesLIVE
World Sports Betting, one of South Africa’s leading licensed online bookmakers and gaming platforms, has issued an apology and removed a promotional campaign filmed in a Pretoria preschool classroom, showing young children watch and cheer as their teacher spins a wheel to win a prize.
The video, shot at Cornwall Hill College, was part of the company’s “Bet to the Beat” campaign. In the clip, social media influencer Chad Jones enters a preschool classroom alongside a model and a branded prize wheel to surprise the teacher.
The children were instructed to cheer as the teacher spun the wheel, eventually winning R10,000. She earned an additional R2,000 for proving she was a registered World Sports Betting account holder, and another R2,000 for performing a dance with the promotional team.
The video sparked outrage and backlash from parents, advocacy groups and former Johannesburg mayor Kabelo Gwamanda, who questioned how such an advert was approved.
Gambling marketing has no place in schools. Everyone involved in this @WorldSportsBet production must be held accountable. Did NO ONE on the set think this was problematic? Did no one think "hey, maybe this is a bad idea"? If not, why not? https://t.co/kqTnP4Ln1m
Following the outcry, World Sports Betting acknowledged the concerns and apologised.
“We’ve seen your posts and comments being shared, and we want to address them directly,” it said. “First and foremost, we are truly sorry. A ‘Bet to the Beat’ episode filmed in a classroom at Cornwall Hill College should never have happened, and it doesn’t reflect the standards we hold ourselves to.”
While the betting company noted that the promotional campaign was produced by an independent production agency, it accepted full responsibility for the oversight.
“We were not aware of the location at the time. But it carried our name, and we own that. Gambling marketing has no place in classrooms.”
World Sports Betting has withdrawn from the “Bet to the Beat” campaign, removed the video from all social media platforms and redirected the remaining prize funds to responsible gambling awareness initiatives. The company added that it had strengthened its vendor code of conduct to ensure similar incidents did not happen in the future.
