Bookmaker Paddy Power's Ad Poking Fun At Foreign EPL Owners Sparks Controversy

Bookmaker Paddy Power has launched an advertising campaign "poking fun at foreign owners of British football clubs that features a team of players wearing Middle Eastern robes," according to Dugald Baird of the London GUARDIAN. The "New Owner, New Kit" TV campaign shows the fictional Middle Eastern owner of a British team in a football ground, with a voiceover commenting how "new owners can really sheikh things up sometimes." It then says that he has "already changed the kit," and his team runs on to the pitch dressed in Middle Eastern robes, while the opponents are in standard kit. The voiceover continues, "Not too Abu Shabby, certainly. It's certainly breathable." A string of players are then shown "tripping over their clothes, with their falls being repeated" in slow motion. "There's certainly contact between his face and the floor," the voiceover adds. "Let's hope the away kit's a bit better, eh?" A Paddy Power spokesperson said, "The 'Owner's New Kit' ad is one of three executions in a new campaign designed to carry our football offers this season" (GUARDIAN, 2/3). MARKETING MAGAZINE's Shona Ghosh reported a Paddy Power spokesperson said that the ad was about "giving a voice back to fans ignored by the 'sporting powers that be.'" The spokesperson said, "In this case we're having a little fun at the expense of megalomaniac owners of football clubs who make sweeping changes without a second thought for the fans." The TV campaign, created by Crispin Porter + Bogusky, has been airing on BT Sport and Sky Sports channels and will continue until the end of the season (MARKETING MAGAZINE, 2/3).