Paddy Power Ad Ban For Gambling Taking Priority
15 June 2022
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An advert for betting firm Paddy Power has been banned for encouraging repeated betting, by showing it taking concern over family.
The advert features a woman asking her partner "Do you believe I'll end up looking like my mum?".
He, distracted by a gambling app, replies "I hope so".
The business stated it accepted the decision from the marketing regulator and would consider the guidance it had actually been provided.
Shown in March 2022 throughout TV and online, the ad showed the male being in a living room beside his sweetheart, whilst utilizing his phone to play one of the firm's betting games.
His girlfriend's mother brings the couple a drink, after which his sweetheart postures the concern to which the man responds without thinking, while continuing to look at his phone. Following his girlfriend's incredulous stare, the guy returns, embarrassed, to playing the wagering game.
The advert's narrator then mentions: "So no matter how terribly you pack it up, you'll constantly get another chance with Paddy Power video games".
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The ad received 3 problems from viewers, all of which were upheld. One complainant said the ad showed the man was so preoccupied with betting it had led him to make an "improper remark".
The UK's advertising watchdog, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said the advertisement "motivated repetitive gambling" because it "represented gaming as taking top priority in life, over household".
A Paddy Power representative informed the BBC the firm was "devoted to responsible practice and it is constantly our intent to adhere to the Advertising Codes. We accept the choice of the ASA and will consider its wider guidance moving forwards".
The to the ASA believed that the guy was portrayed as letting gambling take top priority over his household life and was "socially reckless".
Paddy Power protected itself to the ASA, arguing that the ad indicated a "commitment to household life", since it represented the scene of a traditional family setting, with the guy joining his sweetheart's moms and dads for Sunday lunch, and was meant to be "light-hearted".
The ASA informed Paddy Power that its adverts might not depict gambling as "taking priority in life, or portray, excuse or encourage gambling behaviour that was socially irresponsible", and that the adverts might no longer be shown in their current kind.
Clearcast, the business accountable for clearing adverts before broadcast in the UK, stated that it accepted the ASA ruling, and will take the assistance in to consideration when clearing future gambling advertisements.
The judgment follows a wider campaign by the ASA to secure down on socially irresponsible advertising and apply tougher rules for betting advertising in particular.