Paddy Power attempt at lighthearted satire about the English falls foul of ad regulator

A Paddy Power ad suggesting Japanese football fans are tidier and more considerate than their English counterparts has fallen foul of the advertising watchdog, which ruled that it “relied on a negative portrayal of a nationality”.A complaint about the ad, which ran on buses during the World Cup this summer, was among 18 upheld by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). Adverts from Maxol, the Chemist Warehouse and Temu also attracted the public’s ire. The Paddy Power ad read: “Let’s go Japan. Polite. Organised. Clean up after themselves. The exact opposite of England.” It also featured a fallen England flag.The complainant said the ad was racist and derogatory. The person expressed concern after seeing it at Dublin Airport, where they said many visitors from England might be passing. READ MOREPaddy Power said the ad was part of a World Cup campaign referencing different nations and football cultures, noting there was just one complaint made. It said humour and satire were central elements of its brand and pointed to other strands of the campaign including an ad that read “Nobody Does Football Better Than USA” with an X through the letter “A”, and “Up the Aussies – basically just Irish folk with sunshine and mullets”.The ASA noted the advertisement formed part of a wider World Cup campaign and the intention to offer a lighthearted, satirical take on the sporting rivalry between England and Ireland. However, it said unlike other ads in the campaign, it contrasted English supporters “unfavourably with another nationality ... and went beyond lighthearted humour”. The regulator said the ad “conveyed the message that English people were not polite, were unorganised and did not clean up after themselves”. It said the humour “relied on a negative portrayal of a nationality” and “was likely to cause ridicule”.[ Stock markets have been on a roll. Is it time to hedge your bets?Opens in new window ]Another complaint focused on a YouTube video from oil company Maxol featuring a car on a country road with a voiceover saying: “Make a better choice when you fill up at Maxol.” The website address “maxolcarbonneutral.ie” was also displayed.A complainant said the environmental claims suggested the fuel was carbon neutral and the ad amounted to greenwashing. Maxol said it wanted to inform consumers about a programme to support sustainable practices and did not claim that the fuel itself was inherently “carbon neutral”.In making its ruling, the ASA noted the prominence of the website “maxolcarbonneutral.ie” and said it was “likely to mislead by exaggeration, omission and ambiguity”.A complaint about the Chemist Warehouse was partially upheld over its claim to be “Ireland’s cheapest chemist”. The retailer pointed to a question mark in the advertising copy which, it said, was inviting consumers to make price comparisons. The ASA considered that given its prominence, consumers could reasonably have focused on the text “Ireland’s cheapest chemist” and interpreted it as an absolute superlative claim. A complaint about online retailer Temu connected to a pop-up on the company’s website offering “App New Users Only” gifts was upheld because the offer was restricted. The complainant thought the ad meant the offer was open to customers new to the Temu app, but after downloading it and signing in, they discovered the offer was not available to them.When they contacted Temu they were told they were deemed ineligible due to being an existing customer. The complainant considered this misleading because, although they were not a new customer, they were a new user of the app, and the advertisement did not clearly state they would be excluded from the promotion.