February 19, 2018
Lotto scratched for high tech culture heist
Maori public health organisation Hapai Te Hauora has red flagged a new Lotteries Board product with a Chinese new year theme
Its general manager Maori, Anthony Hawke, says the game links a scratch card with an online augmented reality app with a scratch card.
He says Hapai has cautioned the board in the past about bringing in new technologies which may heighten the risk of problem gambling.
He says the new game is bad on two counts – that it is pitched as a Pokemon Go style game which means it will be extremely attractive to children, and that it uses someone else’s cultural icons.
"I think there is an issue because this is an organisation that has a lot of money, a lot of research, and a lot of big hitters that make decisions. They can’t understand that attaching to a culture is going to be detrimental to or undermine the mana of that culture. If they can do that to the Chinese, who’s next? Is Matariki next?" Mr Hawke says.
He says the Lotteries Commission claims it is supporting communities, but it’s prepared to monetise a community’s culture.
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