Paddy Power Bingo In Hot Water Again!

We spoke about Paddy Power Bingo last week, and had a brief discussion about their advertising campaigns and how they always seem to land up in hot water. Well they have done it again. This time the ASA has found that one of their ads appears to be linking gambling to seduction and the Advertising Standards Authority have recalled the advert and told Paddy Power not to repeat the approach.

The Paddy Power Ad in the national press is not necessarily focused on bingo, but it shows a short man in the back of a stretch limo, seated between two glamorous women and the text says "Who says you can't make money being short? Financial spread betting lets you bet on falling (going short) as well as rising(going long) share prices...etc".

The ASA challenged the fact that the ad breached the code with the implication that gambling was a way to improve self image by linking it to sexual success and better enhanced attractiveness.

Paddy Power said there was no intention to breach the CAP code and they were of the opinion that the ad didn't, nevertheless it still landed them in hot water. I personally believe that advertising is a creative genre and the ASA is a bit ridiculous.