The encyclopedia · Advertising & PR · Marketing decision · 2014
Paddy Power ran a murder-trial betting ad and set an ASA complaint record
A full-page Sun on Sunday ad offered money back 'if he walks' in the Pistorius trial. It drew 5,525 complaints — the most the ASA had ever received.
Paddy Power · 2014-03-02
What happened
In early March 2014, during the murder trial of Oscar Pistorius for the killing of Reeva Steenkamp, Paddy Power placed a full-page advertisement in the Sun on Sunday. The ad showed an image resembling an Oscar statuette with Pistorius's face and the headline: 'It's Oscar Time. Money back if he walks.' It offered to refund all losing bets on the trial if Pistorius was found not guilty.
The ad drew 5,525 complaints — the most the UK Advertising Standards Authority had ever received at that point, fuelled in part by an online petition. The ASA upheld every complaint, ruling that the ad brought advertising into disrepute, made light of a murder trial and a death, and sought commercial advantage from a high-profile tragedy. The regulator ordered immediate withdrawal and banned the ad from appearing again in any form.
Paddy Power initially refused to apologise. A spokesman said: 'It was one ad in one newspaper on one day. I don't think there's an apology coming — criticise us for bad taste, which is fine.' The company argued that offering a market on a major news story did not trivialise the proceedings. The ASA disagreed, finding the ad was reasonably foreseeable to cause serious or widespread offence.
Why it happened
- The creative mapped the brand's irreverent betting humour onto a live murder trial involving a real death — the tone that works on horse racing does not transfer to a courtroom
- The approval chain judged the ad against Paddy Power's own brand standards ('is this edgy?') rather than the audience's likely reading ('is this profiting from a killing?')
- The initial response — 'criticise us for bad taste, which is fine' — turned a one-day ad into a multi-day story about the brand's judgement, doubling the reputational cost
The lesson
Irreverence has a boundary at other people's tragedies — the brand voice that works on sport does not survive contact with a courtroom, and defending the ad costs more than pulling it.
Aftermath
The ASA named the ad its most-complained-about of 2014. Paddy Power's refusal to apologise extended coverage for several days beyond the ad's single print run. The case became a standard reference in UK advertising compliance training for the principle that commercial opportunism around a death or criminal trial will be treated as bringing the industry into disrepute, regardless of the brand's intent.
Sources
- The Guardian: Paddy Power's Pistorius ad brought advertising into disrepute, ASA rules
- BBC News: Paddy Power Oscar Pistorius ad broke rules, ASA finds
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