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The Advertising Standards Board of Australia has upheld a complaint against bookmaker Sportsbet for its ad promoting racing specials for Cox Plate Day.
The TV clip began with a man at the races who has a badly sunburnt face, except for the area where his sunglasses were.
The voiceover for the ad says: “Don’t worry that’s only second degree, spring it on!”, before the betting agency’s Cox Plate Day specials are shown on screen.
The ad ends with an image of the same man at the beginning of the racing event without sunburn.
Harmless? Hardly.
Someone complained to the Board that they found the ad offensive and the ASB agreed.
“I’m a melanoma survivor and I find it offensive that this ad makes fun at such a severe sunburn,” the complainant said.
Sporsbet insisted the ad was intended to be “lighthearted”.
- Alistair Prescott, Gambling911.com
