Paddy Power going to far? People really will bet on anything by Karl Yu, Winneronline Updated 07 Jan 09
Recently, Paddy Power had an advertisement banned by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) that promoted a bet on ailing airline companies.
The full color ad headline asked potential bettors, “Next airline to go bust?” and then proceeded to list airlines that were going financial difficulty, 14 in all including FlyGlobeSpan at 3/1, Spanair at 4/1 all the way down to Virgin Atlantic which was listed as a 100/1 longshot to go belly up.
The ASA received a complaint saying that it violated the British Code of Advertising, Sales Promotion and Direct Marketing, section 20.1 which states:
Although comparative claims are permitted, marketing communications that include comparisons with identifiable competitors and/or their products should not discredit or denigrate the products, trade marks, trade names, other distinguishing marks, activities or circumstances of competitors. Other marketing communications should not unfairly attack or discredit businesses or their products.
According to the ASA, the Paddy Power airline bust bet ad did just that and the betting company was forced to pull the ad despite its claim that it was catering to demand.
This wasn’t the first time Paddy was under fire for wagers accepted.
Paddy Power accepts wagers on more than just sports and financials, it offers novelty bets based on current events and one news item that took place in November was the U.S. Presidential election.
The U.S. election was on the forefront not only in America but around the world too as witnessed by news reports in Africa the day of the election.
In response Paddy offered a wager that paid out at 12-1 if President-elect Barack Obama not complete his first term in office for whatever reason, including assassination.
The bet earned the ire of many including the spokesperson for the American Embassy in Ireland, Shelia Paskman who said it was absolutely inappropriate.
Despite this Paddy initially refused to pull the bet.
“The bookmaker was unrepentant [the night of November 6], claiming that a number of customers from Ireland and the UK had specifically requested odds on Mr. Obama being assassinated and said their current bet would appeal to those people,” reported Ireland’s Independent.
But the outcry was enough that Paddy did eventually pull the so-called novelty bet.
Where does one draw the line? Even if people request a certain wager should the company accept bets on it?
Is it right to profit from others misfortunes or potential misfortunes?
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Recently, Paddy Power had an advertisement banned by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) that promoted a bet on ailing airline companies.
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