Fused Nation – UK SEO Blog

Some things really piss me off and I just added another thing to the list.

Monopoly – targeted at ages 8 and above – have moved away from their classic paper money approach and brought the game up to speed with a credit card style format.  That in itself isn’t too bad a thing, although personally I still think we shouldn’t be introducing children to the concept of debt at such an early age.

What bothers me is their promotion on UK TV – a Visa tie in that leaves real cash and real Visa cards in some boxes as a prize.  That’s a step too far in my mind – what do you think?

People will argue that “it’s just a promotion” or “it isn’t the responsibilty of businesses to deal with these issues” but I disagree.  In the UK, debt is becoming a real problem – I know lots of people falling into an ongoing cycle of living a lifestyle outwith their means, sustaining their day to day lives with credit cards and loans.  I used to be one of them.

While I never found myself in the levels of debt that people with “serious” debt problems can end up in, I still feel this is one of the more unpleasant traits of our society over recent years. 

Marketing “debt solutions” to adults is commonplace – we all know the value of debt related organic rankings and cost of PPC budgets – but marketing to children, even in a roundabout way, is a step too far.  I never left school with the idea that I would be spending the next few years in debt – although that was the reality of the situation (and more so these days) with my student loans, I never considered a credit card as a viable option until later years.

Teenagers grow up aiming for 18 so they can go out to the pub with their mates and get pissed.  Perhaps that’s not the most healthy state of affairs in itself, but it has been the case for years and years.  Do we want our children anticipating their 18th birthday so they can get the “freedom” of a credit card (no doubt at a stupidly low rate to entice long term custom)?

It’s not the Visa / Monopoly tie in that bothers me so much – it’s what it represents.  It’s a precendent and I think it’s a bad one.  It may be unique and uncommon just now, but in a few years it could lead on to regular “cross generation” promotions to avoid advertising legislation.

Tobacco firms can’t advertise on billboards close to schools or sponsor sports events other than F1.  Breweries can’t run TV commericals showing people having a good time drinking alcohol.  Shouldn’t the same line of regulation apply to companies promoting debt related services?  After all, these rules are there to protect impressionable groups – surely promoting an 18+ service on an ages 8+ board game falls under that remit?

It can be argued that the age of Monopoly means that it’s average user group is likely to be 18+.  Therefore it is a sensible marketing approach, isn’t it? 

Of course, I’m not suggesting that Visa would have ever have thought that exposing their brand to a young age group during their most retentive years would be a viable long term strategy.  That would just be silly.

Your thoughts?

MG