Otago Daily Times Online News

$5,000 Welcome Bonus

Play Now

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Where you stand on the brouhaha over Six60 lending their name to a gambling promotion might rest on whether you are a fan of the pop band, or a fan of a little wager, or neither.

You may have missed it — because, to be fair, the re-emergence of Covid-19 in the community has been the topic du jour — but the lads who take their name from their Dunedin flatting days made headlines this week for reasons unrelated to chart-topping albums or wildly successful tours.

They helped launch a promotion in conjunction with Instant Kiwi. Scratch a Six60-themed ticket and win cash prizes, that sort of thing.

The reaction was swift and vocal. Perhaps only a handful of people made the most noise, but that is always the way, and the noise was clear: should wholesome, popular musical stars really be helping to promote gambling, especially when the target market might be a relatively youthful fan base?

Lotto NZ, which runs the scratchies under the Instant Kiwi brand, then announced it and Six60 had made the mutual decision to remove the tickets from sale following the public backlash.

It is tempting to roll one’s eyes and dismiss this as all a bit silly, as a strange little moment of "outrage" in a climate where one cannot say or do anything without offending someone.

Were people really getting that wound up about a $3 scratchie? They have been on the scene for some 31 years, and used in all manner of promotions, without seeming to do too much damage.

This was a campaign targeting folks over 25 — and how many younger types even pay much attention to the scratchie counter in the corner of the supermarket or bookstore?

And, when you hear Six60 was only linking with the Instant Kiwi promotion to benefit a couple of worthy charities, the Raukatauri Music Therapy Centre and Heart Kids NZ, you wonder what good has been done by the hue and cry that shut this down.

But perhaps some valuable questions have been raised.

This was, after all, a gambling promotion. Gambling — aimed explicitly at getting people, often lower-income earners who dream of quick riches, parting with their money.

The harm that gambling causes in the community has been well documented. Indeed, Problem Gambling Foundation spokeswoman Andree Froude told RNZ the promotion risked normalising gambling to young fans.

"They’re seeing their favourite band on a gambling product, which not only serves to normalise gambling, but could encourage them to buy the product."

Lotto fairly points out all profits from its operations are funnelled back into the community, to sports clubs and charitable organisations and the like. But remember, all of those profits (and more) have been taken OUT of the community.

It is that risk of normalising gambling that hits home. Perhaps we all play a part in that — look at the interest created when a mystery winner scoops the big prize in Lotto.

Six60 won’t be sliding down the charts for too long. But they will probably think twice the next time they are asked to take a gamble.