Tweet about Arsenal manager backfires on internet betting operator
News on 15 Sep 2015
News on 15 Sep 2015
A Twitter comment supporting a mobile gambling advert for operator Fruity King has backfired following a complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority in the UK and a finding that it was “offensive”.
The thrust of the advert, which appeared in April , was the unpopularity among some Arsenal football fans of club manager Arsene Wenger. The supporting Twitter comment referred to ‘Arsene Winger’ and compared the football fan abuse of the manager to the physical abuse suffered by Yemeni child slaves in Saudi Arabia.
““Arsene Whinger has suffered more abuse from Arsenal fans over the last 9 years than a Yemeni child slave in Saudi Arabia,” the tweet declared.
It has since been removed, and the operator has apologised and conceded that the comment, although meant as a joke, was “tasteless”. The operator claimed that the tweet was the work of its advertising agency, with which it is no longer involved.
The Authority noted that there were reports of children, who were particularly vulnerable to slavery, being trafficked, and commented:
“We therefore considered that comparing the amount of abuse a football manager received to that of a Yemeni child trafficked into slavery was entirely inappropriate for an ad and concluded that the promoted tweet was likely to cause serious and widespread offence.”
“We told Fruity King that they should take particular care when making reference to real world or current events to avoid causing serious or widespread offence,” the advertising watchdog added.
