"Betting Will Make You Lose Money"—The Reality of Brazil's BET Advertising Regulations Confronting Japan

"The Ministry of Finance Warns: Betting Can Make You Lose Money"

As an advertisement, there are few words as rare that negate the appeal of a product.

Under the new rules introduced by the Brazilian government for online gambling services, known as "BET," operators must clearly display the dangers of gambling in their advertisements. Moreover, it is not a vague and gentle call like "Enjoy responsibly."

Advertisements are required to include at least one of the following warnings:

"The Ministry of Finance Warns: Betting Can Lead to Addiction"

"The Ministry of Finance Warns: Betting Will Make You Lose Money"

"The Ministry of Finance Warns: Betting Is Not an Investment"

The warnings must be placed horizontally, be clear and readable, and occupy at least 10% of the length or size of the advertisement. This applies not only to TV and internet ads but also to a wide range of communications promoting participation in gambling, including promotions, marketing, and sales promotions.

The new rules will come into effect on July 17, 2026, just before the World Cup final, and are seen as a measure strongly conscious of the surge in gambling advertisements during global sports events. The Brazilian government intends to hold not only gambling operators but also third parties involved in creating, distributing, and spreading advertisements accountable.

When "Play" Advertisements Turn into "Life-Changing" Advertisements

The biggest problem with sports betting advertisements lies not in the content of the service but in the narratives depicted.

Many advertisements create the illusion that significant profits can be made simply by operating a smartphone a few times and predicting the outcome of a match. Users rejoicing, high winning displays, luxurious lifestyles, and cars or trips symbolizing success. When repeatedly shown such images, the boundary between gambling and asset building gradually becomes blurred.

Gambling should originally be explained as entertainment conducted with funds that do not affect one's life if lost. However, in advertisements, this is easily replaced with messages like "You can start with a small amount," "You can win if you have knowledge," and "You should participate now."

What Brazil's new regulations prohibit is precisely this transformation.

It is not allowed to portray gambling as a source of income, investment, alternative to employment, or solution to debt and financial hardship. Advertisements suggesting easy profits or implying social and economic success are also regulated.

Sales methods that create urgency, such as "Limited time left," "Bet now for a bonus," or "Don't miss this match," are also problematic.

For regular products, limited-time sales are a form of marketing that stimulates purchasing desire. However, in gambling, urgency can lead to a loss of calm judgment, resulting in additional gambling to recover losses or unplanned deposits.

The Risks of Advertisements Showing Only "Winners"

Under the new rules, showing winning bets or prize amounts in advertisements to entice users may also be a violation.

This involves a bias specific to gambling advertisements.

The success stories introduced in advertisements are those who have won tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of yen. The many users who have continued to lose small amounts or those who have made repeated deposits trying to recover losses are not shown.

A single big win leaves a strong impression. Images of high winnings are easily spread on social media. Meanwhile, small daily losses are less likely to be shared and remain unrecorded.

As a result, in the world users see, there appear to be more "winners" than there actually are, and the expectation that "it might happen to me too" grows.

However, gambling operators can continue to operate because the system is designed to be more advantageous to the operator than to the users overall. While there may be short-term winners, it is structurally impossible for all users to gain long-term profits.

Therefore, the warning "Betting Will Make You Lose Money" is not a rough assertion but an attempt by the government to reintroduce the statistical reality that has been intentionally removed from advertisements.

"Predictions" by Experts and Influencers Also Subject to Regulation

A particularly notable aspect of this regulation is the boundary between sports commentary and gambling advertisements.

If a commentator analyzes the condition and tactics of players before a match and then immediately recommends betting on a team's victory, viewers may perceive it not as mere advertising but as a professional judgment.

Statements by former players, commentators, statistical experts, and popular influencers, who have credibility and familiarity, have a stronger impact than general advertisements.

Brazil's new rules view the use of technical opinions, analyses, and predictions to guide specific matches or betting methods as problematic. Simply displaying "at your own risk" at the end of an advertisement is not acceptable.

Furthermore, companies creating advertisements, sponsors, broadcasters, social media, advertising distribution companies, and influencers must verify in advance whether the business being promoted is government-approved.

The verification targets include corporate names, taxpayer registration numbers, approval numbers, brand names used, and web addresses. It will be difficult to avoid responsibility by claiming ignorance of illegal operators or merely posting materials received from advertising agencies.

Penalties for violations may include fines of up to 20% of the operator's sales or suspension of operations for up to 180 days.

On Social Media, "Finally Said" and "Not Enough" Intersect

When the new rules were announced, the warning text itself was rapidly shared on Brazilian social media.

In particular, the direct phrase "Betting Will Make You Lose Money" attracted attention. Public posts included reactions praising the government for finally stating the reality of gambling and voices welcoming the distinction that "betting is not an investment."

There has long been dissatisfaction with the conventional expression "Play responsibly," which was seen as placing responsibility solely on users while making the responsibilities of operators and advertisers ambiguous. The government's move to explicitly indicate the potential for losses and addiction in advertisements is seen as at least a step forward in terms of words.

On the other hand, there are also many skeptical reactions.

A representative question is, "Can addiction be prevented just by displaying a warning text?" Even if a warning appears on part of the screen, if celebrities are celebrating victories around it and bonuses or high winnings are emphasized, the advertisement as a whole will continue to make gambling appear attractive.

Past bulletin board posts have also confirmed sarcastic comments criticizing the attitude of treating the problem as solved just by displaying "Betting is not an investment" in advertisements. There is repeated strong opposition to calling gambling an investment and pointing out that operators are more advantageous in the long run.

Moreover, criticism can easily arise, such as "Is the government warning citizens of danger while deriving tax revenue from gambling?" Given that legalization and approval manage the market, there is a belief that the government has a responsibility not only to secure tax revenue but also to comprehensively advance advertising volume, usage limits, identity verification, addiction measures, and the elimination of illegal operators.

Even among those who welcome advertising regulations, there are people who believe "the total amount of advertisements during sports broadcasts should be reduced," "sponsor displays on uniforms and stadiums should be targeted," and "stricter restrictions are needed on social media accessed by minors."

In other words, reactions on social media are not simply for or against.

The position that supports warning displays but considers them insufficient occupies a large part.

In Japan, the Use Itself Is Illegal Before "Advertising Regulation of Legal Services"

When viewing Brazil's system from Japan, it is important to note that the legal premises of the two countries differ.

Brazil manages a legal market for government-approved fixed-odds online gambling operators while strengthening advertising and consumer protection rules.

On the other hand, accessing overseas online casinos from within Japan and betting money or cryptocurrencies is a crime. Even if the operating company has obtained a license in its country of location, it does not mean it can be used from within Japan.

In Japan, a law prohibiting acts of presenting or guiding users to illegal online gambling sites or apps was enacted in June 2025 and came into effect on September 25 of the same year. Acts such as posting registration links on social media or introducing sites as "recommended online casinos" are also subject to prohibition.

In this respect, Japan cannot simply adopt Brazil's advertising regulations.

In Brazil, the issue is "how to allow advertising by approved operators." In Japan, it is first necessary to confirm whether the service being advertised is illegal domestically.

However, there are common challenges.

Users find it difficult to distinguish between overseas and domestic boundaries on smartphone screens. If displayed in Japanese, deposits can be made in Japanese yen, and introduced by Japanese distributors, some may mistakenly believe it is a legal service.

If advertisements or affiliate articles emphasize "legal overseas," "can be played from Japan," and "can be used anonymously" without explaining illegality, user misunderstandings deepen further.

The Japanese government repeatedly publicizes that "there is no gray zone in illegality" because this gap in recognition remains significant.

What Japanese Media and SNS Operators Should Learn

The most important point Japan can learn from Brazil's new regulations is the idea that "regulating only advertisers is not enough."

In digital advertising, many operators are involved before a single advertisement reaches users.

Advertisers create materials, agencies plan, advertising distribution companies select targets, SNS and video sites post, and influencers introduce. Furthermore, comparison sites and news-like articles guide users from search results.

In this complex structure, if each company claims "I just provided the space," illegal advertisements and misleading promotions cannot be stopped.

Brazil's rules require those involved in the creation, provision, distribution, dissemination, and sponsorship of advertisements to verify the approval status of operators in advance.

In Japan, reducing online casino advertisements and introduction content requires not only platform screening but also looking at the entire route connecting users to gambling, including advertising agencies, affiliate businesses, video distributors, and payment services.

Particularly problematic are cases where the boundary between advertisements and regular content is unclear.

Encouraging registration in the middle of sports prediction videos, investment information accounts guiding to gambling sites, introducing high winners in a news article-like format. These methods prompt actions without users recognizing them as advertisements.

Brazil's regulation of guidance through expert analysis and predictions is also a reference when considering stealth marketing and affiliate regulation in Japan.

Can Warning Displays Alone Prevent Addiction?

Of course, inserting strong warnings in advertisements does not immediately eliminate the harm caused by gambling.

People in a state of addiction may not be unable to stop their actions even if they understand the warnings. The desire to recover losses, the expectation of winning just one more time, and the stimulation from deposit bonuses or notifications can override calm judgment.

Thus, advertising regulation is only the entry point for addiction measures.

It is necessary to combine multiple measures, such as usage restrictions based on deposit or loss amounts, self-exclusion systems that prevent use for a certain period, prevention of use by minors or economically vulnerable people, advertising restrictions during late-night hours, and prohibiting excessive ad distribution based on individual behavior history.

Verification is also required for the warning text in advertisements.

Is the display area of 10% sufficient? How many seconds is it displayed in videos? How is it read in audio ads? Can it be recognized in vertical videos or short posts on SNS?

If the warning blends into the background or is displayed in small print formally, the rules can easily become hollow.

Moreover, there is a possibility that advertisements may not use prohibited expressions directly but may imply success through images, music, or the expressions of celebrities. Even without saying "you can earn," associating luxurious living with gambling can give a similar impression.

What is important is to judge not only individual words but also the overall impression the advertisement gives to the average consumer.

The Limitations of the Term "Self-Responsibility"

In gambling issues, it is often said, "Whether to use it or not is the individual's self-responsibility."

Indeed, the final operation is performed by the user themselves. However, operators have more detailed behavioral data than the users themselves, such as usage time, deposit history, actions immediately after losing, and frequently bet sports.

Using that data, they can send additional bonuses to losing users, notify them just before a match, and call back those trying to leave.

It is unreasonable to treat the relationship between operators and users, where the amount of information and technical capabilities differ significantly, as completely equal self-responsibility.

Advertising regulation is not about depriving users of their freedom of choice. It is a system to correct the biased information environment created by operators to maximize profits and create a state where users can make judgments, including the risks of loss and addiction.

It's Not a Distant Issue for Japan Either

Brazil's warning text is very simple.

"Betting Will Make You Lose Money"

However, it took society a long time to straightforwardly convey that simple fact in advertisements.

In an environment where sports and gambling are integrated, odds are displayed during match broadcasts, and celebrities call for participation, gambling can appear like a financial product or everyday entertainment.

In Japan, despite the illegality of using overseas online casinos, advertisements and introduction information can be easily found on smartphones. The similar presentation of sports betting, online casinos, in-game purchases, and speculative financial products makes it difficult for young people to understand the differences between them.

The new regulations in Brazil raise not only the technical issue of what percentage to display the warning text but also the question of whether we prioritize the dream of "maybe winning" created by advertisements or the structure where many people actually incur losses.

Not only advertisers but also broadcasters, SNS, influencers, advertising agencies