So today is Super Bowl 57. I'm not in the minority who wishes the game was on a Saturday or even started say around 3 pm. I know there's time differences so that comes into play. But really what it comes down to is money. This is big time money stuff. Estimates put consumer spending at 16.5 billion dollars for this one game, on one night, in one year.
I hate myself for listening to NJ 101.5. I listen each morning when driving to work and when I'm tying as it's the station that gets the best reception. One thing I'll say Dan Zarrow is spot on with the weather and the traffic reports are always helpful. But in between the nonsense I listen to ad over ad over ad over ad about betting. Betting any way and all day. How each personality states "that's where and the way I bet", parlays, yada yada yada. And they always end it with "Gambing problem call......"
And that seems to get them off the hook. Look at the ad above.
According to Rutger's Center for Gambling Studies 15% of New Jerseyan's have a gambling problem and 6.3 have a gambling disorder. New Jersey is ranked 7th in the United States for those who have a gambling addiction. In todays Super Bowl it is estimated that 50 million people will cast bets totaling over 16 billion dollars, which is separate figure from the 16 billion dollars of revenue the game will bring in worldwide.
I'm no Holy Roller. I'm not the morality police. Years ago their were "vices", things people did, hid, or had, that they may or may not have been proud of. Smoking, cigarettes or pot, drugs, alcohol, gambling, porn, I'm sure there are others but that will do. One would say, based on the ads back in the day, it was harmless to go soak some bunker and light up an Old Gold. Or maybe hit your local
stream and pick the pockets with your favorite weighted nymph. And after you tuck that fish into a nest of grass in your creel you reach for a little whiskey, Seagrams V.O. of course, in that flask your kids got you for Father's Day. That ad above from 1972 had the Surgeon General's warning on it, that started in 1969 after the Congress passed the Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act.
Years ago those ads were on TV, on the radio, and in print, in both ewspapers and magazines. But no longer. The moral majority have decided that those ads only increase the damage done by these vices in terms of health and addiction. But, that all depends on who decides what vices can be pushed. What's also amazing is, it shows the power of the American Medical Association vs the lobbyists for the tobacco and alcohol industry. Aren't cigarettes and alcohol legal in the United States? Can't a "good person" light up a butt and have a drink without feeling like they are a sleazy, dirty person? You can't do that but you can toke up with some now legal weed on the Wildwood boardwalk and replace the once DNA infultrating Jersey Shore salty beach smell receptors in your brain with the smell of burnt pot.
And speaking of weed. Yep, New Jersey did it. Made weed legal. People in NJ can go to a dispensary and get legal recreational marujuana now. From July to Septmber in 2022, the reveue created in two months was 116 million dollars. Some say, by 2026, it could reach 2 billion a year. Do you know how many people are in jail, had their lives ruined, or were shot when possession of any pot and a pipe was illegal? Now look above, there's a bunch of happy folks just getting their pot on. That used to be a vice, a problem, something you needed to do time for. My times have changed.
So to recap so far. Smoking cigarettes and alcohol is so concerning we can't mention it on the radio or in print or TV advertisements. It's legal. But is very, very bad. Betting and pot. Now good and legal.
And then there's this gem from 1966. Letting readers of the ads know that Playboy readers, assumably men, "if young males are what you're really after, Playboy turns them on". And on the secientific sales pitch, Playboy leads all magazine sales in homes that have a purchased a TV in the last year. Good to know. Where's the centerfold?
Some may say alot of the viewing of nudes, both male and female, are done in the dark when alone and not with your significant other. They may be true to a point, but not always. Some couples enjoy adult entertainment together. I don't think God approves of it, but some of those Pastor's don't practice
That may be an extreme example and comparison between the two, but is it? We won't talk about sex, or nakedness, or show it as a business, yes, it could a vice, or an addiction, but like cigarettes and alcohol someone has decided it shouldn't and can't be seen. Which may not be a bad thing, it might influence our youth, send them a poor message. But we can hit them with ad upon ad about legal weed and betting......c'mon man.
So enjoy your day today. If you're like me you'll struggle to stay awake. Hopefully the game isn't a blow out. Since I now live in Eagles county I'll go with the birds, 34-27 over the Chiefs. If you bet don't bet over your head, "Gambling probnlem call 1-8--522-4700"