Paddy Power Proves There’s No Such Things as Bad Publicity in iGaming

In the iGaming business every kind of publicity works as Paddy Power’s ad clearly shows.

Paddy Power, Ireland’s largest independent bookmaker is known for its out-of-the-ordinary ads and this one was no different as it advertised “Money back if he walks,” in reference to the Oscar Pretorious murder trial. The betting promotion of course caused havoc with more than 5,525 complaints recorded at the UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). The work of the ASA is to clamp down on misleading ads, including copycat websites that operate under UK gambling laws, in order to protect consumers.

This particular gruesome promotion tripled complaints and even got ahead of the Bookings ad that riled folks too but had to settle for second place in the bad publicity prize slot. Guy Parker, head of ASA said that social media was to blame, not Paddy Power, stating that “2014 was the year social media came into its own in making it easier than ever to lodge complaints en masse”. And although ASA banned the add, too late, Paddy Power got all the publicity it needed, free of cost.

Who’s next? Paddy Power gets ready to bet on Bruce Jenner’s Sex Change

A Paddy Power publicist backed the company’s seemingly pitiless marketing strategy by saying “We went into Pistorius with our eyes wide open and fully aware that it might stir controversy… we wouldn’t be true to ourselves had we not taken bets on it. In hindsight, the feeling is that it was the right decision and we would 100% do it again. Paddy Power‘s popularity had punters scrambling to place sportsbetting odds over the past year, according to mobile betting sites .

Nearly a year after the promotion,Paddy Power is at it again. It is currently being spurred on by launching another infamous publicity stunt by asking online bettors to wager on what name name Bruce Jenner will take when he becomes all female. So you bet it’s downright true the old iGaming saying “There is no such thing as bad publicity”.