Paddy Power has claimed the dubious prize of having broadcast the most complained about TV advertisement in 2010. It’s not just amongst gambling operators either.
Their now infamous advert that features a cat being kicked over a fence topped the list and was subject to 1,313 complaints. Respondents felt the ad was offensive to blind people and could encourage animal cruelty. So that must be why I keep seeing cats flying through the air whilst out in the park enjoying a few beers in the sun. There was me thinking it was too much sauce!
The Advertising Standards Authority’s (ASA) view on the ad was that it was “surreal and light-hearted.” The light heartedness mentioned is obviously something that a vocal minority of the UK’s TV viewing don’t have in abundance. It again shows the complaint culture amongst many is alive and well.
In gaining the accolade, Paddy beat out competition from ads promoting abortion, extra-marital affairs and condoms. We challenge Paddy to use some kind of seal on their ads in future telling the world how they were the most complained about ad last year.
It should be noted that complaints against the advertisement were not upheld and therefore it has quite rightly never been banned. The figures were published by the ASA and as we know they’re hardly the most enamored of parties when it comes to the gaming industry.
Betfred, Betfair, and 888 have all seen the long arm of the ASA reign them in after ads were deemed to be misleading to the consumer. The ASA does have strict rules and might be taking them too far. Topping the list after not being banned is quite an accomplishment though.
You can see from this that if the ASA had seen fit, they would have been only too happy to ban another gambling ad. As it is, this one made it through the far-from-porous net and so it should as it is in no way misleading the consumer. I mean who hasn’t seen a good game of Goalball descent into feline abuse every once in a while?!
With these attitudes in place, Bodog should really try and get the uncensored version of the Super Bowl cheerleader feature as an ad on UK TV. Then let’s see who the complaints champion is!
