ANN/The Strait Times/NATIONAL COUNCIL ON PROBLEM GAMBLING
SINGAPORE—It was an advertisement with the best intentions—to discourage people from betting their hard-earned money during the Fifa World Cup.
Created by the National Council on Problem Gambling and screened during games, the commercial features a group of boys discussing their favourite teams. At the end, a boy named Andy says crestfallenly: “I hope Germany will win. My dad bet all my savings on them.”
As it turned out, what a bet it would have been.
There was more than a little irony when the clip was screened at half-time during this morning’s Brazil-Germany match, when the Germans were already up 5-0.
It did not escape the attention of viewers, who saw the humor in the unfortunate scriptwriting behind poor Andy’s line. Even politicians joined in the fray.
Manpower Minister Tan Chuan-Jin had this to say on his Facebook page: “Bad timing. Looks like the boy’s father who bet all his savings on Germany will be laughing all the way to the bank! 0-5 to Germany. Wow. Any guesses as to final score?”
Minister of State for Trade and Industry Teo Ser Luck posted a comment as well: “Germany beat Brazil 7-1! Brazil need to find out what went wrong and I need to find the script-writer for the gambling control advertisement.”
Meanwhile, Twitter user Sgag_Sg said:
This boy and his dad must be happy like a bird now! Booked Europe holiday already!
#WorldCup2014 #FailAd pic.twitter.com/S78wOCj7WN
— Mr. SGAG (@SGAG_SG) July 8, 2014
Now, couldn’t the scriptwriter have picked another team, say England?
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