The Rebrand of Addiction

By Sophie Cook

I look back fondly on a time when smoking was gross and pokies were cringeworthy. For years, attitudes in New Zealand have been shifting: smoking and gambling were increasingly seen as embarrassing, costly vices—on their way out for the next generation. 

But in this late-stage capitalist hellscape, corporations have rebranded those curses into something we’re into. Vaping morphed from the thing your friend’s weird older brother did into something your mate pulls out in the school bathroom. I always thought smoking and vaping were gross—and yet I became that person pulling the bed away from the wall to find a missing vape. 

Gambling made a similar leap: once a gag on a night out, it’s now just another thing you see on someone’s phone at pre’s. The difference? Marketing. It’s working, and it’s working hard. 

Marketing in Student Culture 

Student media like Salient and Critic have both reported on uptake in youth gambling and the culture forming around it. The latest trend, though, is sponsorships: companies like RainBet are paying students to create TikToks and reels set in flats, lecture halls, or battered couches that look exactly like the ones we know. 

These clips usually don’t carry the AD tag or watermarks we’ve become accustomed to with influencer brand deals. They are not shiny, glamorous—or even necessarily well-made advertisements. That rawness is the point: companies know we'll trust what looks “real.” Worse, this content plays on student struggles. Can’t afford heating? Spent your last grocery money? The “solution” presented is to load up online blackjack and “win it back” or “get it free.” Some videos explicitly include the study link living costs payment on the government agency website and then using that direct amount to gamble. 

It’s distressing to see that students sponsored by gambling companies are creating this sort of content, with us as the target audience. Students are already dealing with increasing financial difficulties, with rising costs of food, public transport fares, electricity and rent prices. So why are we the target? 

I reached out to a handful of these accounts to ask if companies were directing them to make student-specific content. Most ignored me. A few hesitated to talk, even off the record. I’ve found at least a dozen accounts clearly run by students, openly encouraging gambling as a supposed fix for systemic poverty.

Memes, Games and Other Gateways 

It’s not just sponsorships. You’ve probably seen memes watermarked by companies like Stake. Occasionally the watermarks even make the joke funnier, like when a post reads: “I’m not an introvert or an extrovert… I’m a pervert.”We have become so used to perfect PR approved postings from brands that this sort of content has been like a breath of fresh air in comparison. It does irk me a little bit that they have wormed their way into meme culture, even though they aren’t the first brand to try it. 

Gamers, you aren’t safe either. A study in New South Wales found that young people who bought loot boxes and played games with gambling-type features were more likely to eventually gamble in a monetary form. 

It’s easy to rationalise loot crates as harmless—they’re “in game,” not “real.” But functionally they’re lotteries: chance-based, rewarding and addictive. And in some games, you can even cash out your winnings… sound familiar? 

The Vape Glow-up

Vaping is unfortunately a similar story. Smoking was once seen as disgusting—a gross habit that conjures up images of ruined teeth and blackened lungs. Then big tobacco regrouped and rolled out vapes: pastel devices that taste like Chuba Chubs. 

Youth smoking rates were dropping thanks to years of anti-smoking campaigns and government intervention. But no one can deny that designing vapes to taste like lollies and fit discreetly in your pocket is marketing to younger people. 

For me, I was able to get on board with vaping because it slipped through the cracks of taboo. It didn’t smell, didn’t require stepping outside or fumbling with a lighter. It tasted like pink lemonade. What was there to lose? That’s exactly why vaping has been able to plant itself so vehemently in our generation. 

Where’s the Government? 

But wait, where is the government in all this? Surely they have our best interests in mind, like usual? The government has tabled the Online Casino Gambling Bill, which will require offshore gambling companies to become licensed and operate under a set of parameters. This sounds great, however it doesn't require the minimum that New Zealand companies have to do, which is to contribute a portion of earnings to community groups as is required of sports gambling companies. 

As for vaping, the government has FINALLY banned disposable vapes and made the move to ensure that vapes cannot be advertised from the view of outside of the store. This, however, does nothing for those of us who have already become addicted to/reliant on vaping….

Too Little, Too Late

Here’s my tinfoil hat theory: these companies saw smoking and gambling rates falling and decided to get us while we’re young. Hook us now, and when we eventually earn money, we’ll keep spending it on their products. 

One of the accounts I contacted was under investigation by the Department of Internal Affairs, and deleted soon after. That’s something, but overall the government feels permanently one step behind. Every time one loophole is closed, a new one opens.

That vape in your pocket or Spinbet app in your phone is deliberately designed to be there. And in using them, we’ve become no different to the auntie glued to her pokie machine or the smokers clustered outside the RSA. It's just been repackaged and marketed to be intentionally detached from those stigmas. 

Future generations will be able to acknowledge that we fell for the same schemes as our grandparents. Remember how they used to try and market cigarettes as being good for your lungs? One day, our pink-lemondade vapes might look just as absurd.

But don’t worry— I’m not blaming you. Because if I blame you,  then I have to blame myself. And god forbid. 

If you or someone you know is having issues with gambling-related harm, please contact the Gambling Helpline anytime – free text 8006 or call

• Māori Gambling Helpline - 0800 654 656

• Vai Lelei Pasifika Gambling Helpline - 0800 654 657

• Youth Gambling Helpline "In Ya Face" - 0800 654 659

• Gambling Debt Helpline - 0800 654 658