ONE from the “Nanny Knows Best” file…or perhaps the “Ban Everything In The Hope Of Creating A Mindless Utopia” file comes this little gem:
“The National Rugby League is under investigation after repeatedly advertising an Australian gambling game on the Warriors’ Mt Smart home ground - breaking New Zealand law.
The Department of Internal Affairs is in talks with the rugby league body after advertising for Keno Super Saturday was painted on the Mt Smart field for at least three of the Vodafone-sponsored team’s home games this season.”
Apparently the Phoenix was also sat on the naughty seat for having a Centrebet logo at the Cake Tin, and Centrebet logos on players’ shirts.  Centrebet is an Aussie-based bookie.
For God’s sake.  As if having an Aussie Keno game painted on a field is going to make a difference.  How many times have you either gone to a live match or watched sport on TV, looked at the logo on the field and thought, “ooh, lucky they painted that big Samsung logo on the field.  Now if only I could remember what product I wanted…”
I must admit, every time I watched the football World Cup I thought, “gee, I must buy some Budweiser, because I really like drinking beer that tastes like cat piss”.
But back to Australian Keno.  Research shows clearly that nine out of 10 visitors to a Warriors’ match on one of the three Saturdays in question immediately went home to play Aussie Keno.  Further research showed the same supporters were so overcome by the on-field advertising, they couldn’t remember a thing about the game they had just watched.
Poppycock? Of course it is, just like the stupid investigation.  
Sometimes, common sense needs to come into play.  Fortunately, in this case, common sense can be found in marketing theory.
The on-field ads in question are not aimed at us.  They are aimed at a particular demographic in Australia watching the game on TV.  The brand association here is virtually nil (other than the tiny number of people who still play Daily Keno in NZ).  
As for the Centrebet logos, a lot of Kiwis (but not a significant number) do have online accounts.  But is a logo really going to influence thousands of others to go and bet?  Again, it’s a brand association through sponsorship, not an immediate call to action.
While section 16 of the Gambling Act undoubtedly has merit, this application of it is just a make-work scheme for the Department of Internal Affairs, whose staff obviously have far too much time on their hands.
I racked my exceedingly addled brain to come up with an on-field logo I could recall from recent sports watching.  Despite watching a few rugby league games and all the All Blacks’ Tests so far this year, the only one I could come up with was Philips.  And seeing that on a field isn’t going to make me immediately smash up my perfectly good telly and buy a Philips’ one.
Had Aussie Keno backed their on-field advertising with an integrated marketing campaign here to get us to flood them with Kiwi pesos, then there might have been cause for Internal Affairs to act.
As it is, one suspects this is the Lotteries Commission (a Crown entity tied to – surprise, surprise - Internal Affairs) that has thrown its toys out and demanded action.  
As we all know, the State knows what we need to be