UK ad watchdog spanks Paddy Power over misleading Cheltenham TV advert

The Paddy Power half of Paddy Power Betfair has been slammed by the UK’s advertising watchdog over a misleading ad promoting this year’s Cheltenham Festival.

On Wednesday, the UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) upheld complaints against a television ad in which an actor manning a “Paddy Power COMPLAINTS” hotline confirmed that the Paddsters’ Cheltenham free bet offer was “available to everyone, even riff raff.”

The ad included a voiceover that promised punters their “money back as a free bet if your horse finishes second in all races” at that year’s Cheltenham. The actor followed up by adding “That’s every single race, every single day.”

The ad received 12 complaints, most of which complained about the ad’s fine print specifying that the offer wasn’t available to anyone the company determined was “abusing the offer or using the offer to guarantee profits regardless of the outcome.” The fine print also stated the betting operator’s right to restrict a select number of customers from claiming any promotional offer.