Paddy Power Ad Ban For Gambling Taking Priority
15 June 2022
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An advert for betting company Paddy Power has actually been prohibited for encouraging repetitive gambling, by showing it taking top priority over family.
The advert features a woman asking her boyfriend "Do you think I'll wind up appearing like my mum?".
He, by a gambling app, replies "I hope so".
The company said it accepted the decision from the marketing regulator and would consider the guidance it had actually been given.
Displayed in March 2022 across TV and online, the advertisement revealed the guy being in a living-room beside his girlfriend, whilst using his phone to play among the company's betting video games.
His sweetheart's mom brings the couple a drink, after which his sweetheart poses the concern to which the male reacts without believing, while continuing to gaze at his phone. Following his girlfriend's incredulous stare, the guy returns, embarrassed, to playing the wagering game.
The advert's narrator then specifies: "So no matter how terribly you stuff it up, you'll constantly get another opportunity with Paddy Power games".
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The advertisement received 3 problems from audiences, all of which were maintained. One complainant stated the ad showed the guy was so preoccupied with gambling it had led him to make an "improper remark".
The UK's marketing watchdog, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) stated the ad "encouraged repetitive gaming" since it "depicted betting as taking priority in life, over household".
A Paddy Power representative informed the BBC the company was "dedicated to responsible practice and it is always our objective to comply with the Advertising Codes. We accept the decision of the ASA and will consider its wider assistance moving forwards".
The complainants to the ASA thought that the guy was portrayed as letting gambling take priority over his family life and was "socially irresponsible".
Paddy Power defended itself to the ASA, arguing that the ad suggested a "dedication to household life", considering that it depicted the scene of a standard family setting, with the guy joining his sweetheart's moms and dads for Sunday lunch, and was meant to be "light-hearted".
The ASA told Paddy Power that its adverts could not depict gambling as "taking priority in life, or portray, condone or encourage betting behaviour that was socially reckless", which the adverts could no longer be revealed in their existing type.
Clearcast, the business responsible for clearing adverts before broadcast in the UK, said that it accepted the ASA ruling, and will take the assistance in to factor to consider when clearing future gaming ads.
The judgment follows a larger project by the ASA to secure down on socially reckless marketing and use harder guidelines for gambling marketing in specific.