Adverts for the bookmaker Ladbrokes have been shown to “exhausted parents” via a smartphone app that can be used as a baby monitor, the Guardian can reveal.
Campaigners have responded by calling for urgent action to reform the rules governing gambling advertising, which have so far been left out of plans to overhaul regulation of the £11bn-a-year sector.
One user of the app, which can be downloaded from the Apple app store, told the Guardian that they were shocked to see a promotion for Ladbrokes, owned by the gambling company Entain.
The advert offered a “£30 welcome bonus” before showing the industry-wide message “take time to think”, which is intended to promote safer gambling.
Entain said the advert did not breach its own guidelines because the app was a “home monitoring camera” that was not targeted at under-18s.
But the Chinese-made app, YCC365 Plus, is also regularly advertised on leading online retail sites as a tool to be used with home baby monitors.
The advert is not the first time that an Entain brand has been accused of seeking to target new parents.
In 2023, the Guardian revealed that Ladbrokes’ sister company, Coral, allegedly paid blogs aimed at new mothers to recommend its online casino games and link to its website.
At the time, Entain said the blogs were published before it bought Ladbrokes Coral and that it did not actively target young mothers through affiliate marketing.
Tom Fleming, a parent who raised concerns about the app, said: “Watching my baby on camera with a gambling ad visible just feels wrong. It’s something that’s there to keep my child safe but it’s also feeding through a stream of offers for harmful free bets and the like.
“There’s just no escape from these ads when they’re appearing somewhere as innocuous as this.”
Campaigners and a peer said the app indicated that the government should crack down on gambling advertising more widely.
The peer, Don Foster, said: “The whole system of gambling adverts in this country is now completely out of control, showing the inadequacy of government regulation and of the self regulatory body overseeing it.
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“Many other countries have much tighter regulations and stronger enforcement. Rather than promising support for growth in the gambling industry, our government should be doing the same.”
Will Prochaska from the Coalition to End Gambling Ads said: “Targeting exhausted parents is yet another predatory tactic of the gambling industry, which makes most of its money from people it harms.
“Urgent action is needed to stop the population being bombarded with gambling ads at every turn. If the ads aren’t stopped the damage to families and communities will only increase.”
A spokesperson for Entain said: “We have compliance processes in place to help ensure that our adverts do not appear on apps that are targeted at anyone under the age of 18. The app in question, YCC365 Plus, is a home monitoring camera system and has therefore not been deemed to be targeted at under-18s.”
The Guardian has approached Apple and the maker of the app for comment.
