January 09, 2009

Ladbrokes Seeks Lone Complainant of TV Ads

Ladbrokes has launched a tongue-in-cheek press campaign in the style of a missing persons poster offering a £20 reward to find the one viewer who complained to the advertising regulator and got the betting company's TV ad campaign banned.

The company, which today called for a review into the Advertising Standards Authority's ruling banning the two TV ads for its Ladbrokescasino.com online business, has taken out one-page ads in the Sun and the Racing Post.

Ladbroke's press ad campaign features a mock-up of a police photo-fit of a man's face, under the headline "Missing (a funny bone)".

The complainant is described in the ad as: "Body Type: Busy. Nose: Severely out of joint. Last Seen: Throwing toys out of pram."

"We bear them no ill will, we just want to give them a big bunch of flowers and a hug to say sorry," runs a line in the ad.

Ladbrokes goes on to ask readers to see if any of their friends watched the tongue in cheek TV ads for Ladbrokescasino.com "without so much as a snigger".

If so, says the ad, "we may have found our man, and you could earn yourself £20" to use on the casino website.

The ASA banned two tongue-in-cheek Ladbrokescasino.com TV ads for portraying gambling in a "context of toughness" and linking the pastime with recklessness.

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