Bookies' commercial was misleading

An advert for bookmakers Paddy Power featuring Fonejacker star Kayvan Novak has been banned for being misleading.

In the TV commercial, the comic actor played a member of staff who said that the firm's Cheltenham betting promotion was 'available to everyone – even riff raff'.

However the offer wasn't open to all – so the Advertising Standards Authority has ruled that the ad cannot run again in its present form.

The bookmaker admitted that the offer was not available to about 0.5 per cent of its customer base who they feared might 'abuse' the offer.

Paddy Power is no stranger to controversy and has the dubious honour of having the most complained-about ad in British history – for a campaign that offered punters money back if disabled actor Oscar Pistorius 'walked' following his murder trial.

And they came under fire when posted a jokey picture of Paul Daniels in only his underwear just hours after it was revealed he had diagnosed with an incurable brain tumour.

The Novak ads, which first ran in March, made fun of the complaints as they featured the actor as a helpline worker dealing with phoney gripes against the company.

Here's the Cheltenham ad:

Published: 6 Jul 2016