Paddy Power overstepped the bounds of decency with an ad campaign, said the Advertising Standards Authority for Ireland. The authority upheld complaints that an advertisement from Paddy Power was, “racist, offensive and both highly insensitive.”
The ad was part of a campaign run by the Flutter Entertainment-owned company around the 2019 Six Nations rugby tournament. It appeared in early February in the Irish Times and in the sports section of the Irish Star and the Irish Sun as well as Paddy Power’s Facebook and Twitter pages.
“Dear England,” the ad read. “Sorry for the last two years of pain, suffering and humiliation. Another 798 and we’ll be even.”
Paddy Power said in iGaming Business the commercials were intended to reference both “the poor performance of the English rugby team against the Irish rugby team” as well as “publicly debated English misfortunes since the Brexit referendum,” in addition to the history of English rule in Ireland.
The ASAI received six complaints.
“Complainants said the ad stirred up anti-English feelings, and were bigoted towards English people,” the ASAI said. “Complaints included that the content was confusing, inciting to violence, inflammatory, harmful and hostile and bordering on incitement to hatred of all things English.”
The watchdog organization also said the timing of the advertisement amid questions over the UK’s departure from the European Union and the potential of a hard border in Ireland added to its inappropriateness.
But Paddy Power argued that the ads were “edgy, humorous and engaging,” part of its brand. The sportsbook expressed regret for any offense but that it did not believe the reaction was rational.
Paddy Power said the context of referencing a sporting rivalry, made it clear that it was not subjecting people to ridicule or exploiting them on grounds of race. It added that, “light hearted humorous references of historical relations” were commonplace.
The company cited a prior advertisement that ran in the UK—featuring Scottish football fans singing about betting against England—as evidence that the complaint should not be upheld.
Paddy Power also complained called the advertisement “extremely popular” and did not create backlash online.
The authority considered the content prepared without a sense of responsibility to consumers and to society and not responsive to the diversity in Irish society. Because the ad only ran during the Six Nations, no further action was taken. Instead, the Complaints Committee issued a reminder to exercise care.
Paddy Power has come into conflict over its advertising before. In May, the authority upheld a complaint arguing that an ad featuring Rhodri Giggs, the brother of former Manchester United footballer Ryan Giggs, glamorized gambling.
