As the festive season approaches, the ANJ is warning that the practice of giving scratch cards to children is still too widespread. Through an educational campaign broadcast on social networks, the regulator insists that gambling is not child’s play.
Titled “🔍 Where’s the problem? – The poisoned gift”, the new campaign from the ANJ, the French National Gaming Authority, is yet another call for prevention. The ANJ’s aim is to remind people that gambling is strictly reserved for adults. Because behind what is perceived as a playful gift lie the very real risks of trivialisation and early exposure to gambling.
The campaign is broadcast on LinkedIn and other social networks such as Instagram. So far, 3 illustrated episodes have been published. Each is accompanied by a short visual game inviting the public to identify ‘the problem’.
The message is simple, accessible and powerful: gambling is never a good idea, even when it’s offered with good intentions.
Episode 1: The Advent calendar, a seemingly harmless gesture
In this first instalment, the ANJ presents an Advent calendar concealing a scratch-off ticket. A practice that may seem festive, but which exposes a child to a product strictly forbidden to minors.
Slipping a scratch-off ticket into an Advent calendar exposes a child to a product reserved for adults.
It’s a message that aims to deconstruct the idea of a harmless, family-friendly game.
Episode 2: The Christmas list and the trivialisation of gambling
The second episode looks at Santa’s list, another key part of the festive season. Between books, toys and cuddly toys, some adults still choose to add scratch cards.
For the ANJ, this practice contributes to trivialising a risky activity, by placing it on the same level as objects intended for children’s development and entertainment.
Episode 3: Even elves respect the rule
In a deliberately light-hearted production, the ANJ takes the audience into Santa’s workshop. The elves, though pranksters, know the essential rule: you can’t give a child a game of money.
Behind the humour, the message is clear: even fictional characters respect this limit, and adults too must make it part of their reality.
Scratch cards: figures that raise questions
On its website, the ANJ sets out some key data from recent studies:
- Scratch card games are played by almost a third of the French population, with around €11 billion wagered in 2024.
- According to the ENJEU Mineurs study, the vast majority of 15-17 year-olds start playing instant games.
- 25% of French people admit to having already given a scratch card to a child.
- 1 in 5 French people had planned to slip scratch cards into a child’s slippers for Christmas.
A popular gift despite the risks
A study conducted by the Gambling Research Chair at Concordia University in Montreal reminds us that scratch cards are not a harmless activity. Their immediate reward mechanism can encourage risky behaviour and early familiarisation with gambling.
This is a situation that the French seem to be well aware of, since 94% of them consider gambling to be dangerous for children, more so than social networks or screens. But in their minds scratch cards are not concerned and continue to be commonplace. This contradiction has prompted the ANJ to continue its prevention efforts in the run-up to the festive season. Awareness of the risk exists, but practices persist.