So what makes it ok for alcohol ads to continue in public but not gambling?
It's very plain and simple and that's because the society see alcohol as a less evil than gambling. In fact, not just when compared to alcohol but also when compared to drugs. Though moralists will classify all of them as the same of same, the society picks drinking as mild in adverse effect. In fact, we see drinking as a necessary ingredient for social gatherings. Again, drinking addiction isn't viewed as bad as gambling or drug addiction..
Drinking addiction is pretty bad though. I would categorize them the same way to be honest because alcoholism can lead to far worse things than losing all of one's own money. I mean I suppose gambling exposes you to all of that too but still I mean people are killed, raped, abused, and injured and so many other bad things because of drinking. And society calls drinking okay. What I can't get over is how some people still think weed is worse than alcohol. But this is all pychology I suppose, it is a funny thing how we work us humans.