Ladbrokes Bingo recently launched a new advertising campaign to help promote their bingo website. Ladbrokes enlisted the help of M&C Saatchi, an advertising firm and paid good money to have the campaign created. Now thanks to one complaint by a viewer, the Advertising Standards Authority has banned the ads from UK television.

Ladbrokes paid M&C Saatchi 500,000Euros to create the ad campaign which featured adventurous type people looking for a new thrill. One ad shows a diver dressed as a seal with a sausage belt attached at the waist diving into water filled with sharks. The other two are similar as a person is doing something crazy and then deciding to play online bingo to get their kicks.

The Advertising Standards Authority received a complaint from the public and decided to look into the ads. They concluded that the advertisements “portrayed gambling in the context of toughness and linked it to recklessness.” The ads were then banned from the airwaves.

A spokesman for Ladbrokes commented: “We support the code of practice but this is political correctness going too far. The ads are humorous and show people in fantastical situations to which no-one would aspire. Consumers know that you cannot jump from a plan using a 30g pack of crisps as a parachute!”

It does seem as though the Advertising Standards Authority were a little rash in their decision as only one complaint had been made on the ads. If more complaints had been made then their decision would make more sense.


- 2009-01-08