Clubs Australia has argued a proposed marketing blitz supporting poker machine reform is nine months too late, saying its own advertising campaign has already impacted parliamentary perceptions.
Public relations guru Sue Cato and renowned advertising legend Neil Lawrence have announced they plan to launch a marketing blitz supporting poker machine reform.
Clubs Australia, which has been rolling out a campaign opposing the proposed mandatory pre-commitment scheme for poker machines for the past nine months, said the duo should have moved earlier.
Meanwhile, Lawrence and Cato have come out swinging.
Clubs Australia media relations manager Jeremy Bath told AdNews: “I don’t want to tell masters of the PR and advertising world how to do their jobs, but if I was really concerned about this issue I’d have moved a lot quicker. Our campaign started nine months ago. We are not concerned in the slightest.”
Cato responded to this remark, saying it “suggests a continuation of some of the arrogance we have already seen from Clubs Australia".
“We might not have a massive spend but we have the hearts of the majority of Australians,” Cato said.
Meanwhile, Lawrence told AdNews: “Clubs Australia has significant funding, which has allowed it to launch it campaign. There is no funding for the 100,000 faceless victims of problem gambling.
“Clubs Australia does not acknowledge that 40% of its profits come from problem gambling. The organisation has run a campaign that is pathetic, misleading and self interested.”
Meanwhile, it has been reported today that Gillard administration may be withdrawing its support from the proposed reform. Independent MP Andrew Wilkie initially pushed the reform on the government, as Prime Minister Julia Gillard sought to retain control in a minority government.
However, when Liberal MP Peter Slipper agreed to be the Speaker and gave the government an extra vote in the lower house, the support of Wilkie was no longer critical.
While the change in political circumstances would be the main reason for a withdrawal of support, Clubs Australia has also suggested that its advertising campaign had an impact.
Bath said: “There would be lots of reasons why the Gillard Government could be pulling back its support of Wilkie, the main reason being Peter Slipper. However, there’s no doubt that when we speak to MPs, they say they have been feeling the pressure of our campaign.
“If the Gillard Government really is withdrawing support, then again its shows that [Neil Lawrence and Sue Cato] have moved too late. But we have received no formal communication from the government or Wilkie, so we will be moving ahead with the campaign as planned, and will be significantly ramping up activity in February.”
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