Advertising Authority Partially Upholds Complaint Against Paddy Power Promo

A man who said he had spent "a fortune" after being "drawn into a cycle of trying to place 50 bets in one week on tennis" has had his complaint against Paddy Power partly upheld by t he Advertising Standards Authority for Ireland, according to the Irish Examiner.

The complainant considered the subject line of the email advertising was misleading: "[Recipient’s name] we’re rewarding your loyalty with a free bet!"

Issue 1:

The Complaints Committee considered the detail of the complaint and the advertisers’ response. The Committee noted that the advertisers had agreed that the subject line of the email had inaccurately reflected the detail of the promotion and would amend it for future similar offers. While the Committee noted that the body copy of the email had clearly outlined the details of the tennis offer, they considered that the subject line was misleading and was in breach of Sections 4.1 and 4.4 of the Code.

Issue 2:

The Committee noted that the promotional offer was only sent to those who regularly placed a large number of bets on tennis and that the offer had been chosen based on research carried out with their target market. The Committee also noted that information had been provided, on a confidential basis, on tennis betting levels which sufficiently showed that the required number of bets was in line with normal betting habits for the target market. In the circumstances the Committee did not uphold this aspect of the complaint.

ACTION REQUIRED: As the advertiser had undertaken not to use the subject heading again, no further action was required.