Paddy Power

Irish bookmaker Paddy Power has again fallen foul of advertising guidelines established by the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) after previously having an advert banned in April.

The most recent advertisement gave odds on 14 international airlines including British Airways and RyanAir going bust and ran in several UK national newspapers using the headline ‘Next Airline To Go Bust?’. The full-page ad featured odds ranging from 4/1 for Spanair through to Virgin Atlantic and EasyJet at 100/1.

The ASA revealed that it had received one complaint that the ad had ‘denigrated’ the names of the airlines because it implied each was at risk of going into administration. Responding, Paddy Power stated that it was the market leader at providing odds on topical news stories and had run the special offer due to ‘numerous requests’ following the recent closure of two carriers.

The Dublin-based firm behind online Poker site Paddy Power Poker and Paddy Power Bingo said that it considered the sector to be a ‘legitimate betting market’ and that it had proved one of its most popular non-sports gambling opportunities for September. It revealed that the published odds had ’reflected the weight of the money that had been wagered’ on the various airlines going out of business.

However, the ASA concluded that such a betting market suggested that the named airlines were at risk of entering administration and, therefore, ‘unfairly discredited those businesses’.

“The ad must not appear again in its current form,” read the judgement from the ASA.

“We told Paddy Power to ensure they did not unfairly discredit businesses when advertising betting markets.”

Abstract from www.igamingbusiness.com