ASA dismisses complaints against Paddy Power and Sky Bet

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has dismissed complaints against Paddy Power and Sky Bet for ads that starred former Premier League footballers, Micah Richards and Peter Crouch.

The complaint against Paddy Power was centred around two adverts shown on TV in November 2022. The adverts featured former Liverpool and England striker Peter Crouch conducting a choir singing Christmas carols in a concert hall. The accompanying female pianist was showed watching a football match on her phone while playing.

Every time a goal was scored, Crouch turned around and led the audience in a Mexican wave. Crouch then appeared in various clips throughout the ad, including celebrating on stage with the choir as well as being turned away from a pub because it was full. Another scene showed on-screen text that stated: “COMPLETELY FREE BET BUILDER ON ALL ENGLAND GAMES”.

The advert ended with a scene of a plate featuring Crouch on it and text stating: “PADDY POWER WHERE WERE YOU IN 22?”.

The second ad was a shortened version of the original, again ending with the same text.

The complaint brought against the ad was that Crouch would appeal to those under the age of 18, which is against UK CAP Code rules.

The ASA concluded that while Crouch is a well-known footballer, the tail end of his career did not see him play for major clubs and nor does he have any social media channels that appeal to the under-18 age group.

It was also argued the ads were being televised due to their Christmas theme and that Crouch was appearing on ITV show The Masked Dancer around the same time.

Overall, the watchdog found the ads were not of strong appeal to children or young people under 18.

The second grievance was levelled at Sky Bet for using former Manchester City and England defender Micah Richards.

Sky Bet used Richards in a promoted tweet in October 2022, which featured an image of the defender. The text above the image stated: “[Football emoji] Club football returns following the international break… [money face emoji] Get £20 IN FREE BETS when you place a £5 bet!”.

The complaints were the same as those levied at Paddy Power, that using Richards would appeal to those under 18 due to his prominent place on the BBC and Sky Sports. Richards also featured in episodes of Sky’s series A League of their Own and CBBC children’s show Football Academy.

Like Crouch, Richards does not have any active public accounts on YouTube, TikTok or Twitch. The watchdog also found that under 3% of Richards’ followers on Instagram and Twitter were in the concerned demographics.

While the ASA acknowledged Richards does have links to Premier League football which appeals to children, it was considered that his social media and general media profile was predominantly geared towards an adult audience. On these grounds, the ASA concluded the advert did not have strong appeal to children or young people under 18.

In response to the ruling, a Flutter UK&I spokesperson said: “Paddy Power and Sky Betting & Gaming make every effort to meet CAP guidance that prevents us from using celebrities and sports people with strong appeal to under 18s in any of our advertising. Decisions such as who our brands work with are very carefully considered as responsible advertising practice is always at the heart of our business. We are very glad that common sense has prevailed in these cases involving former players and that the ASA has decided not to uphold the complaints against us.”