Vice Ganda and Ivana Alawi are just among the many celebrity endorsers of online gambling
Social media personality Carlo Ople called out Unkabogable Star Vice Ganda and actress-vlogger Ivana Alawi for endorsing online gambling.
There had been several showbiz personalities and popular influencers who became the faces of various online gambling companies, and many people had been criticizing these celebrity endorsers.
One of the people who recently criticized two of the most popular online gambling endorsers was Carlo Ople. Through his social media post, Carlo called out Vice and Ivana to stop endorsing online gambling.
The social media personality asked Vice Ganda, Ivana Alawi, and all the celebrities endorsing online gambling how much they would receive for this kind of stint, in exchange for their integrity.
Then, Carlo pointed out that the reality is that these faces of celebrities are being used for promotional materials, stressing that this is just for fun and recreational purposes.
However, he said that the endorsers would get their six- or seven-digit paychecks for endorsing gambling to their followers.
“Para sa inyo, endorsement deal lang siya, pero alam niyo ba yung numero? Alam ba ninyo na 66 percent of young Filipinos today are hooked on gambling, and a third of them end up playing and betting 2 to 3 times a week,” he said, adding that 1 to 3 percent of them end up being addicted to gambling that would eventually destroy their lives.
Another piece of information that Carlo Ople shared was that half of the people who are using online gambling apps earn less than P18,000 a month, and that because of the ads with celebrities’ faces on them, they would still gamble their money.
The social media personality also stressed that after being addicted to gambling, these people would not call or inform celebrity endorsers of what really happened to them because of gambling.
For Carlo Ople, celebrities like Vice Ganda and Ivana Alawi are “Trojan Horses” of online gambling companies as they are being used to make the products they are selling look good.
“You make addiction look like casual fun. You make addiction look like ‘responsible gaming,’” Carlo said. He also pointed out that “influence” is a privilege that should be used responsibly.