Question Paddypower "novelty bet" Oscar Pistorius verdict..

[Wild Reels]

Heard this on the news today and id say i'm far from being politically correct but is this taking bets too far?

Premeditated Murder Charge Verdict

Singles Only. Applies to the verdict of Oscar Pistorius' first trial for the charge of premeditated murder. Bets void should charge be changed from ‘premeditated murder’ before verdict. Bets void should mistrial be declared. Bets will not be accepted on this market from permanent residents of South Africa.

theres currently a petition doing the rounds also, and obviously it made the news also, to me its just in really bad taste and i doubt its going to do them any good whatsoever.

 

[KasinoKing]

Certainly seems in pretty bad taste to me.
It was obviously murder - but I don't think it was premeditated.
(Just my own opinion!)

KK

 

[Casinomeister]

Personally, I think this is in extremely poor taste. I'm removing them from the "Casinomeister Picks" section for now. Using personal tragedy for marketing purposes is abhorrent.

 

[jjezebel37]

Personally, I think this is in extremely poor taste. I'm removing them from the "Casinomeister Picks" section for now. Using personal tragedy for marketing purposes is abhorrent.

Totally!!

 

[Casinomeister]

I don't know if this is just a ploy to gain attention (e.g. Golden Palace and its tattooed babies and streaker incidents), but they've lost their moral compass on this one.

I would like to see their marketing execs explain the reasoning behind this betting offer to the parents of Pistorius' girlfriend - or even Pistorius' parents themselves. Is it to gain more customers? C'mon. There are better ways to go about it.

 

[lockinlove]

so paddy is owned by the mob I assume?

 

[Simmo!]

Just wrong. But so is televising the trial IMO.

 

[dunover]

Treating a trial where a woman has lost her life in the same way they would take bets on a verdict in reality TV show or soap opera storyline is f*cking disgusting. I hope they get the bad publicity they deserve and it costs them a packet ultimately.

 

[paul7388]

that's the problem with paddy powers advertising , many of their adverts and special bets especially on their face book are offensive and as close to the edge as they can get away with but think this is even going to far by their poor standards

 

[asadzareef89]

Disgusting by paddy

 

[Casinomeister]

Thinking bout this a bit more - I'm suspending their accreditation for the time being. At least until they discontinue the promo or provide a convincing statement explaining why this is acceptable.

 

[Jory]

I wonder if they're offering odds on World War III.

 

[Simmo!]

I'd love to know how the idiot that came up with this idea would react if it was a member of his family that had been shot and killed and a company decided to use it as a "branding" opportunity! It just epitomises how fucked up the world is.

 

[Casinomeister]

Here's an excellent article from the Guardian that expresses my sentiments exactly:

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[bigjohn]

These are the same idiots who sponsored Dennis Rodman going to North Korea for 'basketball diplomacy'. Stupid.

 

[winbig]

Something similar happened to Zimmerman (the FL guy that killed that kid). A promoter was going to have a "celebrity" boxing match between him and DMX. There was so much outrage that they canceled it. Maybe paddypower will do the same and cancel all bets?

 

[Slotster!]

Paddy Power market themselves on their "edgy" humorous outlook - like the "ball of shame" promotions etc. the Twitter feed is very funny mocking football management and players etc...

Totally agreed that, in this instance, they've had a massive moral, marketing and general humanity nightmare - to the extent I thought it couldn't possibly be true until I read the Guardian link.

We're not talking loss of form from a premier league striker; someone lost their life.

Abhorrent.

 

[bigjohn]

Paddy Power market themselves on their "edgy" humorous outlook - like the "ball of shame" promotions etc. the Twitter feed is very funny mocking football management and players etc...

Totally agreed that, in this instance, they've had a massive moral, marketing and general humanity nightmare - to the extent I thought it couldn't possibly be true until I read the Guardian link.

We're not talking loss of form from a premier league striker; someone lost their life.

Abhorrent.

I believe quite a few lost their lives and/or livelihoods in N. Korea too.

 

[chayton]

“We’re offering a market on the outcome of a trial because people want to bet on it. We’ve had over a thousand people place bets on this. It is the story of the year - it’s the water cooler conversation, everybody is talking about it. We are just responding to demand by offering a price on that. That’s what we do.”

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[jetset]

Just wrong. But so is televising the trial IMO.

I agree, this smacks of pandering to a media that is mainly interested in commercial advantage off the arrangement. There has already been a breach of the court conditions by one dumbass media company.

I'm also less than happy with the pre-trial "trial by media" that was rampant in the days leading up to the trial. The legal experts say this does not influence the case because South Africa has no jury system and the assessors and judge are legally trained and therefore capable of putting speculation and hearsay to one side. I still think it is wrong, and in this case the media was broadcasting their own ballistics tests and every sort of rumour and speculation around the case. IMO that has to influence the ordinary persons involved in the matter.

I am personally doubtful that Pistorius is telling the whole truth, but he is nevertheless entitled to a fair trial.

As for Paddy Power, they've made a name for themselves as edgy marketers, but they've overstepped the mark this time imv. Still, if you believe that all publicity is good publicity, they're doing quite well out of the coverage on their taste-challenged offer.

 

[syntynyt]

we had a similar case in a hospital where doctors placed bets between them on patients interned at intensive therapy with stroke, injured badly in accidents etc. the game was: who will die first, in which day, even day or night option. one nurse installed a hidden camera in the main doctors office and recorded one week of bets. in the video was shown a doctor accused another that he influenced death of one of his patient to win a big bet, the amount of a monthly wage. then nurse sent the video to media agencies and they showed highlights from the video but with faces blurred. the day after 9 doctors lost their license of practice and talk shows started wanting them in prison without luck.
i'm not prudish but this was very wrong morally and profesionally, not sure about paddy though.

 

[Dinahnana]

Novelty bets can be fun if they are done right and they are putting odds on lets say Celebrities break-ups, who's next to get pregnant or who is going to win or lose in an upcoming election. There are thousands of options to chose from that would make the novelty bet fun for a player. I think resorting to ghoulish stunts like this is insulting to the average player. When I first read this thread I thought WTF did they really just do that? It beggars belief that a casino which is very trusted IMO would risk that reputation by even considering a promotion like this. I mean somebody there thought of this and management okayed it. They all need a good kick up the arse. I don't play there often but I can tell you I won't be playing there anytime soon again.

 

[jetset]

The Advertising Standards Authority in the UK has announced that it is to investigate the Paddy Power - Pistorius issue.

 

[jetset]

Paddy Power ordered to pull ad. pending outcome of the ASA investigation:

ASA RULES PADDY POWER PISTORIUS CAMPAIGN BE PULLED



Likely to cause widespread offence,says UK advertising watchdog



Paddy Power has been ordered by the UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) to pull a rather distasteful ad campaign centred on the current trial of South African Para-Olympian Oscar Pistorius following receipt of a record 5 200 complaints.



The online and print campaign is running bets on the trial under the strapline "money back if he walks". The print ad which shows an Oscar statuette sporting Pistorius' face says "It's Oscar Time. Money back if he walks. We will refund all losing bets on the Oscar Pistorius trial if he is found not guilty".



An online petition at Change.org, which was initiated by "Jean Hatchet" a pseudonym for a feminist campaigner, garnered 122 000 signatures.



"I started the petition because this is an inhuman thing for a company to do and someone had to. If it wasn't me, it would have been any one of the fine women I meet every day both on and offline, campaigning to keep women safe and help them heal," commented "Hatchet", herself a victim of domestic abuse.



"So for Paddy Power to see that vast pile of ruin and think that it is an appropriate way to make a profit and keep shareholders grinning makes my blood run cold. It did yesterday. It does today. It will tomorrow," Hatchet was quoted as saying in The Guardian newspaper.



According to a report in The Independent.ie, Paddy Power's chief financial officer Cormac McCarthy refused to apologise for the stunt, saying: “We’re offering a market on the outcome of a trial because people want to bet on it. We’ve had over a thousand people place bets on this. It is the story of the year - it’s the water cooler conversation, everybody is talking about it. We are just responding to demand by offering a price on that. That’s what we do.”



ASA chairman Lord Smith has ordered the immediate withdrawal of the campaign saying it must "remain out of all circulation in UK media" until the ASA has completed its investigation.



"We consider the ad may be seriously prejudicial to the general public on the ground of the likely further serious and/or widespread offence it may cause," the ASA said in a statement today (Wednesday).



"We are also concerned that the good reputation of the advertising industry may be further damaged by continued publication of this ad."

 

[Dinahnana]

They shouldn't have to be ordered to pull it, they just just apologize and pull the add end of story. The fact that they are defending the stunt is beyond me. The brand could salvage some of its reputation by doing this. Plus shame on the 1,000 plus people for placing bets on this,