A newspaper ad taken out by Paddy Power has been criticized after the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) upheld a complaint against it. The advert, published in The Sun on 15 October 2011, featured Liverpool striker Luiz Suarez and stated: “MONEY-BACK IF SUAREZ SCORES. LIVERPOOL V MAN UTD. IF SUAREZ SCORES WE’LL REFUND LOSING BETS.” The complaint arose from the fact that Suarez is under 25 years of age and under CAP Code 16.3.14 it’s illegal to feature those beneath that age in gambling industry advertisements. Paddy Power’s defence was that the player was subject of the bet and not actually playing a significant role in the act of gambling but it didn’t wash with the ASA.
Ladbrokes is launching a new smart TV advertising campaign that will air on the Rovi Advertising Network. The bookie will be able to “deploy capabilities like in-depth multimedia graphics and video as part of their advertising campaigns.” The ads currently run on Samsung Smart TVs and Blu-Ray players and will become more and more important as television evolves onto the next level. Although Smart TV is in its infancy at the moment, Betfair already has a smart TV deal with Samsung and has had an app on the system for around 18 months. Little bit late for the first boat there, Lads.
One industry that interests both of the above firms is horseracing and we’re starting to see the disastrous effect adverse weather had on last year’s calendar with Northern Racing’s disappointing end of year figures. Managing director, Tony Kelly, attributed full blame for the loss of 24 fixtures to a fall in revenues of 4.2% to £29.5m with operating profits down 18.5% to £2.2m in the year to end of March 2011. The company is owned by the Reuben Brothers and could soon be part of a group that encompasses 16 courses if they assume full control of Arena Leisure.
