In being completely appalled by this attitude to Oscar Pitorius' trial?

[perfectstorm]

So Paddy Power have decided to run a poster campaign and national media ad campaign on whether Oscar Pitorius is convicted of killing his girlfriend, complete with an image of him as an Oscar award, and the slogan " "It's Oscar Time. Money Back If He Walks." Their blog says, "Global media attention, bar-stool conversation and pillow talk will shift from the Oscars on Sunday night to Oscar on Monday when the Blade Runner straps on his prosthetic limbs for the long walk to the high court."

I don't know if it was an accident or whether he murdered her, but does it actually matter? A young woman is dead, this is a murder trial, and they think it's casual entertainment people can take a flutter on, akin to the sodding Oscars.

Are they run by David Brent?

Appalling, yes but another new low from the predatory gambling industry doesn't surprise me.

I'm also aghast at the salivating coming from national and global media.

Have emailed MP too.

The ad is mildly amusing.

The murder isn't.

Its inappropriate humour.

No one needs to have it explained.

Charlie Brooker makes plenty of inappropriate 'close to the bone' jokes but perhaps writing for the guardian absolves him in your eyes

You lots are as bad as the daily bloody mail for being needlessly outraged..... its an ad, its tasteless but its not the end of the world.....

MrsMc82 - I see you work in HR.
Gosh.

IMO the 'puns' are at the level of an 11 year old, no wit, no political satire, just thick ignorant childish stupidity.

No, honestly, a few of us don't see the joke. What is it precisely that you thought was funny? The pun about walking? Or the money back if he's cleared? Which bit was funny? I am genuinely baffled.

Brooker is a satirist which means that his jokes or puns most usually make the 'top dog' the punchline. Which is funny. At least he thinks about what he writes.

It's taken some Nuts columns writer five seconds to come up with that.

If you snigger or pass it on then you condone the trivialising of a murder or manslaughter. Put yourself in her family's shoes. Laughing then? It's like school bully stuff. If we all stay quiet the attitude breeds and this stuff spreads and gets more foul. I don't want my son growing up with this sort of stuff.

"I'm sure they meant to shock, because their core target for new market will be very young men, so they want to be seen as pushing the boundaries with that target market. What they won't want is a focus on how generally socially corrosive they are."

Exactly the same target market as people like Jimmy Carr? The fact that the establishment (and MN and others like us) hate it is exactly what will make it a successful campaign as far as the target market is concerned, so yes in this context all publicity is good publicity. I hate it but I have never actually placed a bet (beyond buying a raffle ticket for charity) so the fact that they've upset me is neither here nor there.

I listened to some of the debate about gaming machines on R4 last week. It's the same debate that was brought out when the National Lottery launched (which was equally valid). IMO it won't go anywhere because massive tax revenues will be lost and as far as Daily Mail readers the majority of the electorate is concerned (which is what counts) the "losers" who waste their lives on these machines get what they deserve. People who spend hours in betting shops don't tend to be voters.

Don't PP have stands at the races? A boycott by everyone horrified at this ad would be quite representative I reckon,

Nope, can't see the joke

1. His name is Oscar, and the Oscars just happened - not funny.
2. He has a prosthetic leg - not funny
3. The Oscars and a tragic murder are pretty much the same when it comes to the news - sad if anybody thinks that way.

Is it actually legal to bet on the outcome of a murder trial?

Quite grotesque in making money out of such a tragedy. It defies belief. Thanks for highlighting this OP.

Yep people in HR are allowed to have a sense of humour / grip on reality / not be outraged by trivial things. ...

Trivial. Well. Heard it all now.

I think that your humour needs working on, MrsMc.

The violent death of a young woman trivial?

Not sure it's the majority of people on this thread who need one of them there HR grips.

Which bit of this story struck you as trivial MrsMc?

Out of interest, are all the posters here female?

I have a sneaking feeling that a good % of ordinary men (good fathers, loving husbands) would find something funny in this.

Oh wow. I seem to have wandered into a parallel universe where betting on the outcome of a murder trial & The Last Leg are remotely similar .

Even though the trial is being televised (which I don't agree with FWIW) it is NOT a TV programme! The trial is not taking place for entertainment. It is taking place to determine whether a man intended to murder a young woman or not. To compare any element of it to the "close to the bone" humour of light entertainment programmes is just wrong. And a bit odd .

And I've never bought or read the Daily Mail - so please don't go tarring me with that brush, thank you .

I'm really upset by this and have signed the petition and contacted Paddy power. I will make a complaint to the Irish advertising standards too as they have broken decency regulations.

This advert hasn't appeared in the UK most probably because it contravenes our ASA rules. So certainly not a trivial matter.

She died, shot 4 times. Alone, in fear and fucking strangers are capitalising and profiteering on her death and her family's quest for the truth and justice. Her trial isn't a game.

Not if their daughter was Reeva Steenkamp they wouldn't Technical.

Mine wouldn't Technical.

well, given that you clearly don't have a sense of humour, MrsMc82, I think you need to look for a new job.

You have summed up exactly why I would never go to HR with anything important at work.

Just thought you'd like to know we've published a guest post on this from End Violence Against Women's Director Holly Dustin, here

No, of course not Santas. I was thinking of the downsides of the marketing campaign from PP POV. Most gamblers are (I think) men and I wonder if they would share the outrage felt here, as a demographic group.

I wasn't tarring you with any brush, just suggesting that the anti-gambling lobby are on a hiding to nothing because the Daily Mail types don't think the issues affect them. Like it or not, the majority of the electorate share many of those views and the majority is enough for the politicians.