At the time, an online petition, signed by over 100,000 people, called for the advert to be removed.<\/p>\n
In the advert (pictured below), Paddy Power said it would refund all losing bets if Pistorius was acquitted. The odds were 7\/4 that the athlete would be jailed, and 2\/5 that he would “walk”.<\/p>\n
The advert is a play on the name given to The Academy Awards, commonly known as The Oscars, and the first name of the Paralympic gold medal winner.<\/p>\n
![\"Oscar](\"http:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Oscar-Paddy-Power.png\")
<\/a>Oscar Paddy Power ad<\/p><\/div>\n
According to the ASA, the advert drew 5,525 official complaints in 2014, the highest number of objections ever received in Britain.<\/p>\n
The second most complained about advert (a booking.com ad) only drew 1,768, in comparison.<\/p>\n
In an ASA ruling in April 2014, Paddy Power was ordered to take down the ad<\/a>, and not use it again in any media.<\/p>\n The authority ruled that the advert had made light of murder and domestic violence, as the wagers were tied directly to the subject matter of the Pistorius trial.<\/p>\n Paddy Power argued, however, that it did not believe the advert breached the Code under any of the grounds cited or the complaints raised.<\/p>\n It did not cause grave or widespread offence on the grounds that it trivialised murder, death or violence, it argued. Nor did it make any reference to gender-related matters, or cause offence on the grounds of disability.<\/p>\n The advertisers said that the advert should be considered on its merits.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Ad must be viewed for what it was: a market on a trial in South Africa on which many people in Ireland seem to be interested and to have an opinion,\u201d Paddy Power said.<\/p>\n Pistorius received a five year prison sentence in October after being convicted of culpable homicide for the killing of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, on Valentine’s Day 2013.<\/p>\n Oscar advert made \u2018light of murder\u2019<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\nMore on Paddy Power<\/h3>\n