Paddy Power Advertisement Ban For Gambling Taking Priority
15 June 2022
ShareSave
An advert for wagering firm Paddy Power has been prohibited for encouraging repetitive gambling, by showing it taking priority over family.
The advert includes a woman asking her partner "Do you think I'll end up appearing like my mum?".
He, sidetracked by a betting app, responds "I hope so".
The business said it accepted the choice from the marketing regulator and would think about the assistance it had actually been given.
Displayed in March 2022 throughout TV and online, the ad showed the man sitting in a living room beside his sweetheart, whilst utilizing his phone to play one of the firm's betting games.
His girlfriend's mom brings the couple a beverage, after which his sweetheart presents the concern to which the guy responds without thinking, while continuing to look at his phone. Following his girlfriend's incredulous gaze, the guy returns, embarrassed, to playing the betting video game.
The advert's narrator then mentions: "So no matter how badly you stuff it up, you'll constantly get another chance with Paddy Power video games".
Celebrities and footballers to get gambling ad ban
Tesco plant-based food advert banned as misleading
Adidas sports bra adverts banned over bare breasts
The ad got 3 complaints from audiences, all of which were promoted. One complainant stated the advertisement showed the guy was so preoccupied with betting it had led him to make an "inappropriate remark".
The UK's marketing watchdog, the Standards Authority (ASA) stated the ad "encouraged repetitive gaming" since it "depicted gambling as taking top priority in life, over household".
A Paddy Power representative informed the BBC the company was "committed to responsible practice and it is constantly our objective to comply with the Advertising Codes. We accept the decision of the ASA and will consider its more comprehensive guidance moving forwards".
The plaintiffs to the ASA believed that the male was depicted as letting gambling take priority over his domesticity and was "socially careless".
Paddy Power protected itself to the ASA, arguing that the ad indicated a "dedication to family life", given that it depicted the scene of a conventional family setting, with the man joining his girlfriend's parents for Sunday lunch, and was intended to be "light-hearted".
The ASA informed Paddy Power that its adverts might not represent gambling as "taking concern in life, or depict, condone or motivate gambling behaviour that was socially irresponsible", which the adverts might no longer be displayed in their existing type.
Clearcast, the company responsible for clearing adverts before broadcast in the UK, said that it accepted the ASA ruling, and will take the guidance in to consideration when clearing future gambling ads.
The ruling follows a broader campaign by the ASA to secure down on socially careless marketing and use harder rules for gambling advertising in particular.