Paddy Power cleared by advertising watchdog

In the UK, a television advert promoting Irish online and land-based betting operator Paddy Power that attracted over 1,000 complaints has been cleared by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) watchdog.

The commercial showed a game of soccer being played by two teams of blindfolded men using a ball that had a bell inside. It opened with a shot of a kitbag marked Blind Wanderers FC before proceeding to show the players mid-game. One participant then kicked the ball off of the pitch and a cat wearing a bell on its collar ran on to the field of play at the same time.

The advert continued with one of the players immediately shown taking a free kick before a thud and load meow sounds were heard, although no contact between the competitor and the feline was shown.

A man in a suit then appears on the pitch, pats the shoulder of the player who had taken the kick and states: ‘Paddy Power can’t get Tiddles back. There’s nothing we can do about that but we can get you your money back with our money-back specials’.

The unidentified man in a suit then hands the player some bank notes before a shot of the cat walking along the branch of a tree is shown and a final voice-over stating: ‘’Check ‘em out before you bet at Paddy Power’.

The ASA received 1,089 complaints about the advert with 220 objecting on the ground that it was offensive to blind people while 1,070 felt it was harmful because it might encourage or condone cruelty to animals.

However, the ASA disagreed on both counts and revealed that Paddy Power is free to continue showing the advert.

“The ASA acknowledged that it was not offensive or disrespectful in itself to create an ad referring to or involving people with a disability,” read the ASA’s decision.

“We noted that the ad featured and was supported by members of the England Blind Football Team and showed blind people enjoying a game of football.

“We considered that the action in the ad would be interpreted by most viewers as a humorous depiction of a fictional situation with the humour derived from the surreal and improbable circumstances when an unforeseeable and accidental action occurred. We considered it was unlikely to be seen by most viewers as malicious or to imply that blind people were likely to cause harm to animals while playing football.

“We noted the ad was not aimed at children and was not shown in and around children's programmes. We considered the situation in the ad was surreal and improbable. We noted that the action did not directly show any footballers making contact with the cat and, furthermore, it pointedly ensured that the cat was shown ultimately unharmed walking on the branch of a tree.

“We acknowledged that some viewers had not found the ad to be in good taste but, because it was surreal, farcical and light-hearted in tone, we considered it was unlikely to be seen by most viewers as a gratuitous or realistic portrayal of cruel treatment of an animal or that it would encourage or condone cruelty to animals.”