Betting brand Sportsbet has put some of the world’s most infamous sports cheats in a new ad for its app.
The campaign – featuring the message “putting the ‘roid in Android” – features sprinter Ben Johnson, who was stripped of his Olympic gold medal in 1988 for doping. He later admitted he used steroids to break the 100m world record in 1987.
According to a spokesperson from the Advertising Standards Board, the ad received more than 50 complaints over the weekend.
The ad features Johnson sitting behind a desk, polishing a trophy, while a voiceover tells viewers “When it comes to performance enhancement, Ben really knows his stuff.”
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A spokesperson said Johnson was aware of the script’s oblique references to his cheating.
The ad also features lookalikes of cyclist Lance Armstrong, stripped of seven Tour de France titles, the Russian weightlifting team who were barred from the 2016 Rio Olympics, and champion Chinese swimmer, Sung Yang, who was accused of cheating by Australian swimmer Mack Horton.
The ad was created by BMF.
Cam Blackley, executive creative director at BMF, said in a press release that he had not expected the controversial ad to get the green light.
He said: “There are times when you concoct an idea that makes you laugh so much you think ‘nup, we’re never going to get that made’. Well Sportsbet booked our tickets to Romania and here we are. And to work with Ben Johnson, my boyhood hero, that’s the icing.”
Since its launch, the campaign has also sparked controversy, with the Herald Sun, 3AW and the Daily Mail, Triple M among publishers who have written about the new ad.
The campaign will run across TV, digital, radio and social.
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