Paddy Power learns that an ad making fun of Oscar Pistorius' murder trial was stupid

Irish gambling firm Paddy Power has the dubious honor of having the most-complained about advertisement — ever. It turns out a campaign featuring a picture of Oscar Pistorius next to an Academy Award statue with the blurb, "It's Oscar Time. Money back if he walks," wasn't the firm's smartest idea.
According to the UK's Advertising Standards Authority, the campaign garnered 5,200 complaints before Paddy Power was forced to pull the ad. While the ASA usually lets a campaign run for its allotted time while it conducts an investigation, the public's backlash forced them to take the "unusual step" of telling the company to end the campaign immediately. The ASA is examining if the ad is "offensive for trivializing issues surrounding a murder trial, the death of a woman, and disability."
Paddy Power says it was a one-off ad that only appeared in one newspaper in tandem with Sunday's Oscar show. -- Jordan Valinsky
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Paddy Power
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Jordan Valinsky is the lead writer for Speed Reads. Before joining The Week, he wrote for New York Observer's tech blog, Betabeat, and tracked the intersection between popular culture and the internet for The Daily Dot. He graduated with a degree in online journalism from Ohio University.
-
An ancient Israeli cave teaches new archaeological lessons
The Explainer The cave is believed to be one of the world's oldest burial sites
-
Music reviews: Tyler Childers and Madonna
Feature "Snipe Hunter" and "Veronica Electronica"
-
Art review: Noah Davis
Feature Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, through Aug. 31
-
Charlamagne Tha God irks Trump with Epstein talk
Speed Read The radio host said the Jeffrey Epstein scandal could help 'traditional conservatives' take back the Republican Party
-
CBS cancels Colbert's 'Late Show'
Speed Read 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' is ending next year
-
Shakespeare not an absent spouse, study proposes
speed read A letter fragment suggests that the Shakespeares lived together all along, says scholar Matthew Steggle
-
New Mexico to investigate death of Gene Hackman, wife
speed read The Oscar-winning actor and his wife Betsy Arakawa were found dead in their home with no signs of foul play
-
Giant schnauzer wins top prize at Westminster show
Speed Read Monty won best in show at the 149th Westminster Kennel Club dog show
-
Beyoncé, Kendrick Lamar take top Grammys
Speed Read Beyoncé took home album of the year for 'Cowboy Carter' and Kendrick Lamar's diss track 'Not Like Us' won five awards
-
The Louvre is giving 'Mona Lisa' her own room
Speed Read The world's most-visited art museum is getting a major renovation
-
Honda and Nissan in merger talks
Speed Read The companies are currently Japan's second and third-biggest automakers, respectively