Paddy Power's ‘racist and offensive’ immigrant advert banned

Paddy Power’s controversial “Immigrants, jump in the back! (but only if you’re good at sport)” advertising campaign has been banned.

The advert is one of 15 found by the Advertising Standards Authority for Ireland (ASAI) to have breached the ASAI Code.

The ad, featured heavily on social media, included pictures of sports stars Andy Murray, Raheem Sterling, Mo Farah, Manu Tualigi, and Eoin Morgan on a truck side.

The truck was sent to the French port of Calais at the height of the migrant crisis, and caused considerable negative reaction.

The ASAI found the advert breached three sections of the code, including that it caused grave or widespread offence. It was found to be in poor taste, racist, offensive, and exploitative.

Paddy Power defended using the advert stating that it sought to promote advertising that was “edgy, humorous, and engaging” and that it was never their intention to cause offence.

It pointed out that the advert was meant to be a satirical joke in respect of Britain’s leading sportsmen ahead of Andy Murray’s second round match at the 2015 Wimbledon Championship, and had not designed the advert to cause offence or to be insulting to immigrants.

Paddy Power said the advert had in no way incited racial hatred and wholly refuted this suggestion.

However, the ASAI upheld the complaint stating that it was “inappropriate” to refer to vulnerable groups simply as a means to generate publicity.

Controversial new stunt from Irish bookmaker Paddy Power. Lorry spotted in Dover #immigration #Calais pic.twitter.com/ZngYRfh508

— Seb Duval (@SebDuval) July 2, 2015

“In this case the committee accepted that while the majority of Paddy Power followers on social media and Twitter would probably be aware of their ‘edgy’ sense of humour, it was nevertheless inappropriate for advertisers to refer to vulnerable groups, in a manner that highlighted their current high profile difficulties, in marketing communications merely to attract attention,” said the ASAI.

The ASAI also upheld a complaint against a Diageo Facebook page advert which showed Guinness being poured accompanied by the Guinness logo and a link to the drinkaware.ie website. The post read: “Busy day? Find a little calm in the storm”.

The complainants, Alcohol Action Ireland, objected on the grounds that it implied Guinness had therapeutic qualities and had therefore breached the alcohol provisions of the code.

Adverts from the following companies were also found to be in breach of the ASAI Code: Irish Distillers Pernod Ricard, Dunnes Stores, Creole Restaurant, Hamptons Floor Store, Little Caesars Restaurant (Rathfarnham), Miss Fit Skinny Tea, Musgrave Group (SuperValu), RegisterMyCompany.ie, Renewell Water, The Travel Department, and Wicked e-juice.