Ladbrokes Bingo Has Ads Banned

Ladbrokes Bingo was forced to remove three ads from UK TV after the Advertising Standards Authority ruled that they portrayed gambling in the context of “toughness” and thus linked the pastime to recklessness.

The UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) seems to have taken its political correctness to the extreme, after it ruled that Ladbrokes Bingo would need to remove three adverts that ran on television.

The three highly amusing ads portrayed thrill seekers in a number of insane positions, with all them finding their sad end after pushing their thrill-seeking to the absolute limit.  For example, one ad showed one person jumping from a plane using a crisp bag as a parachute. The common link binding all three ads that for true thrills, players should turn to Ladbrokes Bingo instead.

The ASA, however, failed to see the humor in the ads and promptly banned them following the complaint by one single person. The ASA ruled that the ads “portrayed gambling in the context of toughness and linked it to recklessness.”

Ladbrokes Bingo, one of the most popular bingo sites in the UK,  said that it would appeal the decision and said: “We support the code of practice but this is political correctness going too far. The ads are humorous and show people in fantastical situations, to which no one would aspire. Consumers know that you cannot jump from a plane using a 30 g bag of crisps as a parachute!”

The company also took out a tongue-in-cheek ad in two newspapers in the form of a Missing Person’s ad to find the person who made the complaint to ASA, promising to bring him or her a bunch of flowers in thanks.