Goofy Anti-Gambling Ad Backfires on Government Agency

The below ad ran during half-time of the World up match between Germany and Brazil. The ad by Singapore's National Council on Problem Gambling (NCPG) featured a group of boys excitedly discussing who will win in the ongoing World Cup.

At the end, one of them said while frowning: "I hope Germany wins. My dad bet all my savings on them." The screen then faded out to a message cautioning about the social fallout of gambling.

Germany won the game 7-1.

"Bad timing," Tan Chuan-Jin, Singapore's Minister for Manpower, wrote on his Facebook page. "Looks like the boy's father who bet all his savings on Germany will be laughing all the way to the bank!"

A meme of the commercial by local blogger Lee Kin Mun with the caption "Always trust your father. #GER 7 : #BRA 1" went viral on Twitter Wednesday morning.

In response to queries from Channel NewsAsia, an NCPG spokesperson indicated that it would not be pulling the advert, and said: "The NCPG World Cup campaign aims to serve as a timely reminder to those who bet on soccer not to get carried away in the excitement and hype of the World Cup and let their gambling affect their loved ones.