Paddy Power has apologised for using a homophobic slur in a marketing video. 

The Flutter Entertainment-owned betting brand is no stranger to controversial marketing, although its recent series of “Fan Denial” videos has played it fairly safe until now. 

The offending video, which has now been removed, was shared on social media following Arsenal’s FA Cup final win over Chelsea, and featured a fan saying “salty rent boy.”

Before Paddy Power removed the video, it attracted criticism from fan groups including Chelsea Pride, Gay Gooners, Proud Baggies, and anti-discrimination charity Kick It Out, whose chairman, Sanjay Bhandari, said:

“An advert like this is designed to provoke and does nothing to further inclusion in football. All it will do is encourage people to keep using this hideous language, not just on social media but in matches too.”

Responding to the incident, Paddy Power said “it does not condone the use of such derogatory terms.” 

Our statement regarding the homophobic video posted by @paddypower. Following the response from @kickitout and many other members for the #lgbtq football community. pic.twitter.com/BPAvNxueed

— Chelsea Pride (@ChelseaPride_) August 5, 2020

Yesterday, following @paddypower’s FA Cup fan denial video, we sent an email to CEO Peter Jackson. We highlighted continued actions & thought are needed more than one-off campaigns & our role to #CallItOut.

We’re glad to see the video has been removed & hope PP learn from this. pic.twitter.com/aLH52LikGv

— Gay Gooners – Arsenal’s LGBT+ fans (@gaygooners) August 5, 2020

AYO.NEWS says:

What is it with Paddy Power’s marketing team? It’s almost like they do things like this just to get attention…

‘AYO.NEWS says’ features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited or its affiliates or associates. 

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