By Craig Platt
British regulators have banned an ad by an Irish betting agency that encouraged punters to bet on which airline would be the next to fall victim to the current economic crisis.
The ad, by Paddy Power, has been running in national newspapers across Britain and featured the line: "Booked a flight? Don't sweat, insure with Paddy Power".
The ad then listed a range of airlines and their supposed odds of going bust. The airlines included FlyGlobespan at 3-to-1 and Spanair at 4-to-1, but also larger airlines such as Ryanair, EasyJet and British Airways (all at 100-to-1).
The British Advertising Standards Authority said it received a complaint claiming that the ad denigrated the airlines listed because it implied they might go into administration.
Paddy Power, which argued it specialised in betting on news events, said it had received several requests for odds on airlines going into administration after several high-profile collapses.
The betting agency also argued that a maximum stake of £200 per customer, meant customers could not manipulate the perception of a particular airline's financial position.
The standards authority, however, upheld the complaint, stating that "because the ad suggested that the named airlines, particularly those with the shortest odds, might go into administration we concluded it unfairly discredited those businesses".
A spokesman for Paddy Power told Forbes that the company would continue to offer betting on issues related to the economic crisis.
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