Hi, the following excerpt from a web article is old and somewhat off the topic but it has some interesting points that might be of use to you.

The guy who wrote it is the Rev Tim Costello, who has been on the case of the gambling industry for a long time (religious reasons I think) but he obviously has sources to information.

The main point is that is says Crown spends $20M a year in advertising and it also talks about the types of advertising they use/get, like bing able to put their logo on street signs and so on.

jj




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2 May 1997

The Four Myths of Crown Casino

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The government failed to charge Crown Casino an extra $174 million for its additional gaming tables. It allowed Crown to put its logo on our street signs in defiance of the Road Safety Traffic Regulations and to have 52 bright blue signs around Melbourne, again in defiance of the same regulations. The government discontinued gambling harm minimisation TV ads which were so effective 12 months ago. Its only response to the criticism of the Victorian Council of Problem Gambling that made those ads has been to defund them. The Minister for Finance and Gaming dissolved his advisory committee on problem gambling when churches insisted on their right to nominate their own representative to it. Far from properly regulating gaming and authorising a sustained advertising campaign such as the TAC ads, the government has proved to be the ‘biggest gambling addict’ in the State. There is a sinister new meaning to the term ‘Minister of the Crown’.



4. ‘That no one’s forced to gamble at Crown Casino.’ The beloved defence of the Premier is that gambling is simply a matter of choice. As an ex-advertising man, he knows that when advertisers like Crown are spending $20 million a year on promotion that they are not wasting their money. They are manufacturing and manipulating choice. And their message is targeted at Victorians rather than overseas high rollers, as 85% of visitors to Crown are local people. Literally, all cultural roads now lead to Crown Casino. The kids’ football heroes are paid appearance money to be there. The abundance of shops, cinemas and virtual reality games completely blur the boundaries between family entertainment and gaming. The South Eastern Freeway runs into Crown’s carpark (the biggest in the southern hemisphere). And there is a special entrance from the new City Link Freeway into Crown. Crown openly admits that it has successfully cornered the Asian and working class market and that the new Casino (now the ‘Crown Entertainment Complex’ with the nasty word ‘casino’ dropped) is to seduce the Anglo-Saxon middle classes.



In the minds of the next generation, to go to the Casino is synonymous with fun and for their parents with ease and cheapness of parking. This will feed Crown with ever new generations of gamblers.



For these reasons, we invite all Melburnians to an alternative called Not the Casino Party - Don’t gamble Melbourne’s Soul at Batman Park on Sunday 18 May, 12.00 pm - 4.00 pm.



Rev Tim Costello

Spokesperson

Interchurch Gambling Task Force