SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Paddy Power marketing has decided to withdraw a planned Ashes billboard advertisement featuring convicted sex offender Rolf Harris.
Images of the controversial advert, which carries the image of Australian entertainer and convicted sex offender Rolf Harris and the message “The Only Aussie We Don’t Want to Get Out” were leaked this weekend on Twitter.
It is believed that Paddy Power planned to use the advertisement at some point during this summer’s England vs Australia Ashes cricket series.
Following the leak of the billboard, the bookmaker issued a statement notifying the media that the advertisement would be destroyed. The bookmaker further noted that it did not know where the leak of its advertisement had come from.
A Paddy Power spokesperson commented on the withdrawal of the advert
“We decided that, on balance, although potentially amusing for the cricket fan, the sentiment of the advert crossed the line and had the potential to cause offence.”
“It’s not often Paddy Power make this kind of decision but in this instance we believe we made the right call not to run it. We can confirm that we will be destroying the advert and it will never be released in public.”
This July the Paddy Power courted further controversy following the release of its Dover “Immigrants, jump in the back! (But only if you’re good at sport)” lorry advertisement
