The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has once again banned a TV ad of the Ireland-headquatered bookmaker Paddy Power. The latter was found guilty for launching a misleading promotion fronted by Fonejacker comedian Kayvan Novak.
The bookmaker ad has been created by the advertising agency Lucky Generals and referred to a special offer related to the Cheltenham Festival that takes place in March. According to the promotion, the bookmaker’s customers could have their money back as a free bet in case that the horse they had bet on finished as a runner-up in any race.
A large number of complaints, saying that the TV ad was misleading and the Cheltenham betting offer was not available to all customers, was received by the watchdog. In fact, about 0.5% of the Irish bookmaker’s customers were excluded from even receiving the offer, and Paddy Power confirmed that themselves.
Still, the company explained that all customers who were officially excluded from receiving special offers, promotions, bonuses or enhanced prices were sent an e-mail in advance of the exclusion, informing them that they are not allowed to take part in such elements.
Considering the fact that the TV ad said that the offer was available to everyone, and in fact its full terms and conditions said otherwise, the advert’s content has been taken as misleading for Paddy Power’s customers. According to the full terms and conditions of the promotion, some clients of the bookie could be excluded from the offer in case it was evident that a certain customer is abusing the special offer in order to draw profit no matter what the outcome is.
Regardless of the fact that Paddy Power explained their policy related to the ad and the Advertising Standards Authority noted that most complaints were filed by customers who had been perfectly aware of the fact that a restriction of this promotion was imposed on their accounts, it ruled that the ad’s wording was misleading for the viewers who were likely to understand that no exclusions were made from the promotion.
The watchdog explained that the on-screen text saying that the general terms and conditions were applied was not enough to inform the bookmaker’s clients for the specific exclusion that applied.
According to the authority’s ruling, the Cheltenham Festival promotion ad must no more appear in its current form. The owner of Paddy Power – Power Leisure Bookmakers – was also told not to mislead its customers again by making them believe that a certain offer was available to every user without exclusions if that was not the case.
A spokesperson of Paddy Power commended on the ban describing it as “one of the strangest decisions” of the watchdog and defended the bookmaker’s policy saying that the ad had got Clearcast’s approval. Still, the spokesperson confirmed that the company would be abiding the ruling of Advertising Standards Authority and would not air the ad in its original form again.
- Author
Olivia Cole
