Pokie machines are a scourge on our society. But in a left-field bid to make them less addictive, creative director Neil Walshe has added losing sounds to the brickie’s laptop.
Walshe, in collaboration with Rumble Studios and Milos Photography have introduced a psychology-informed losing cue and tested it with real players who didn’t know what had changed.
Did you know poker machines don’t have losing sounds? Most players don’t even know. Maybe that’s why Aussies lose $12 Billion a year on them. The Losing Sound is a project to make pokies less addictive.
In this small-scale test, loss awareness increased and the urge to keep playing halved.
The campaign was launched in partnership with two addiction recovery specialists; Ron Isherwood from The Truth About Addiction and Kerrie Atherton from Stories of Hope Australia. It suggests that losing sounds should be enforced in poker machines everywhere.
Walshe said: “Gambling addiction destroys families and lives. If this project helps players become more aware, that’s a win. If it helps Canberra become more aware, that’s a jackpot.”
Credits:
Project by: Neil Walshe
Project for: The Truth About Addiction & Stories of Hope Australia
Losing SFX by: Jeremy Richmond
Directed by: Milos Mlynarik
In partnership with:
Rumble Studios
Milos Photography
Sure Studios
Optika
Cast
Trevor Jones
Mayra Nascimento
Paul Presdee
Roslyn Lynch
Paul Amaral
Dr Anastasia Hronis
Jeremy Richmond
Assistant Director: Kota Sato
Voice Over: Daniel William
Stylist: Emma Cotterill
Gaffer: Steve Schofield, Alan Fraser
Sound: Dexter Cave_
Data Wrangler: Woodsee
Editor: James Tyrrell
Score: Jeremy Richmond
Effects: John Agapitos
