British Columbia Lottery Corporation (BCLC) is reinforcing its safer gambling message with a new sports betting ad designed to reduce intimidation when using its PlayNow.com website.

The ad features plays in American football, ice hockey and soccer, where the participants, spectators and commentators are unclothed, except for the necessary equipment.

The message being conveyed by BCLC is that the sports betting experience can be enhanced and made easier for users, especially newer bettors, by using PlayNow.com, the Canadian Crown corporation’s online gambling site which deploys its flagship responsible gambling program, GameSense.

The new PlayNow Sports ad is being launched in tandem with GameSense ads, and significantly features no athletes or celebrities, with the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) recently outlining its new online gambling advertisement standards, which outright bans athletes and places tougher restrictions on the use of celebrities, influencers and the like.

“You don’t need big names and big money to have effective advertising,” declared Patrick Davis, President & CEO of BCLC, on LinkedIn.

“With so much important dialogue in the industry about the frequency of sports-betting advertising and the use of celebrity and athlete endorsers, BCLC has continued to show that innovation in advertising is very possible: and without the flashy superstars who undeniably have appeal to younger audiences.

“With the NFL season beginning this weekend, BCLC, in partnership with our advertising agency 123w, is proud to unveil a new ad for PlayNow Sports, that demonstrates this innovation.

“I’ll admit, it’s a bit cheeky.”