• by Sean Hargrave , Staff Writer, September 1, 2017

It's Friday, the typical day for high spirits as clocks tick down to beer o'clock and it's time to beat a thousand other media execs to get anywhere near the front of a bar in Soho before spilling out into the street so you can enjoy taxi fumes with a Peroni.

It's a lighthearted day during which many in adland will be asking a simple question. Is advertising too PC? In the battle for equality and diversity, are we losing some of the UK's legendary sense of humour? it's a feeling that will have taken root over a while, but today's news that Paddy Power is being referred to the ASA is likely to rekindle the conversation.

The offending tweet, and print ad in London's The Evening Standard and Metro papers, was typically Paddy Power. They thought Mayweather was so likely to win his fight against McGregor that they paid out in advance. Anyone with half a boxing brain knew that would be the result, and true to form, Paddy Power tried to get some publicity for paying out in advance of what turned out to be a correct prediction.

The trouble for them was their humour crossed a line for a tiny minority of people. "We always bet on black" was the tag line. It could be taken either way as a gambling reference to black on a roulette table or the stereotypical view that the black contender in a boxing bout is the most likely to win.

Paddy Power knew it was a play on words amd they knew it would be controversial, so they went for it. According to Campaign there were a whole nine complaints about the ad. That would probably mean more people were involved in getting Campaign's story about the furor published on the web than were actually outraged in the first place. Oh yes, it was also complained about on Twitter. The ASA said an entire massive collection of five people were appalled at the tweet which carried the tag line and has referred the issue to ASA Ireland, where Paddy Power is based.

Yes, I know -- reference to colour is always a tricky thing. Even if you're referring to a positive attribute you're still relying on a stereotype. So yes, if I were writing an article, I would never even consider such a reference.

However, Paddy Power is a fun, irreverent brand that sometimes goes too far for some people. It pushes boundaries and, ironically, plays on the stereotype of people knowing it's an Irish brand that is simply up for the proverbial "craic" and not taking life too seriously. Sure, the brand meant to get a reaction from people, but I genuinely think they were just out to have a joke about the guy who was fighting -- let's not forget -- an Irish boxer, draped in green. 

it was the same when the brand ran an ad in which a blind football team which kicked a bell with balls inside, so they knew where it was, but then ended up kicking a passing cat with a bell on its collar by accident. Animal welfare protesters were, of course, appalled, but the other 99.9% of the population laughed.

It's important we can still have some fun in advertising because there are so few brands that try. With tv fragmentation every other ad seems to be a boring, low-cost production showing a range of goods we can buy from a warehouse, or a boring voice over telling us how we can claim PPI compensation.

Ad execs want to take a few risks. Certainly creatives are imploring agencies and brands to grow a spine and take a risk on the equivalent of a gorilla playing the drums to sell a chocolate bar. Instead, what we have are some very tired, humourless spots which go through the motions without ever really trying to entertain or make us laugh. Have you noticed that even car adverts have to play it safe now with everyone driving completely safely to the speed limit. Even if they're in a situation where there are professional drivers in a controlled environment and an on-screen graphic points this out. I know one major car company had to recently edit out a car driving on the beach as it was feared this would encourage reckless behaviour. 

This treament of people like they're idiots who can't see when a brand is having a joke is just tiresome. Should we ban Superman because it might encourage people to attempt to fly from tall buildings? Hence, I think the ASA will tell the nine people who complained to get a life and realise sometimes jokes are a little close to the knuckle, that's what makes them jokes and that was helps push boundaries. 

So as adland decides whether it's a night to rush to Waterloo for a delayed train home or join the scrum for a pint, I'm sure most will be hoping that some common sense comes back to the public and its regulator so creatives can keep on having fun and not just showing off warehouses and PPI claims hotlines.