ASA Censors Paddy Power Ads

TV and radio campaign under scrutiny This week, Irish bookmaker Paddy Power felt what it's like to feel the UK Advertising Standards Authority's criticism, when its TV and radio campaign got censored due to a number of complaints that it is misleading. The main focus of the adverts is betting on the Champions League final match between Barcelona and Manchester United. Namely, the company claimed it would refund losing bets if Barcelona won the match in normal time with a maximum refund of GBP100. However, the complainants claimed that the TV advert contained small print that contradicted its content, as was the case with the radio advert whose content was misleading and adversary to its terms and conditions. The complaints have been acknowledged by the ASA, and censored as a result. In a statement on the matter, Paddy Power stressed that the wording “We'll refund losing bets” meant that Paddy Power would refund some, not all, losing bets, which was clear from the ad, focused on sports related channels, whose average listener/viewer would easily grasp the usual terms and conditions of the promo.