ASA reveals Paddy Power Oscar Pistorius as most complained advert of 2014

Paddy Power’s Oscar Pistorius ‘Money Back If He Walks’ campaign was deemed the UK’s most controversial advert of 2014.

In a list published by the UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), the media and advertising watchdog revealed that the Paddy Power advert had received 5,525 complaints.

The advert published in March 2014, had received public and media backlash for bad taste as UK punters could place bets on the outcome of the Reeva Steenkamp murder trial in South Africa.

ASA were forced to take the unusual step of ordering the campaign to be pulled immediately, as it feared that it would cause widespread offence.

On the ban, an ASA spokesperson said: “The ASA banned this national press ad that offered incentives to bet on the outcome of Oscar Pistorius’s murder trial. The ad caused serious offence by trivialising the issues surrounding a murder trial, the death of a woman and disability.”

Other UK adverts to feature on the ASA list include, holiday travel site Booking.com, supermarket chain Sainsbury’s and VIP Electronic Cigarettes