Paddy Power Kick Up A Fuss In Brazil
Hoax or not, Paddy Power’s latest World Cup stunt has really stuck the boot into the planet-conscious public. The Irish bookmaker is renown for it’s no-nonsense approach to marketing and PR – being at the centre of controversy seems to be where they are most comfortable making their name. Over the years they have made fun on the blind, the elderly, chavs, transvestites and Jesus Christ. Their latest target is deforestation, and the response online has been mixed to say the least.
Image: Paddy Power
Publishing doctored images of cleared trees in the Amazonian rain forest to show the message “C’mon England PP” is hardly the most sensitive angle to take and shows fairly little sympathy for one of humanities largest problems.
The picture was faked to raise awareness of the ongoing destruction of Brazilian rain forests. Their blog gives us further insight into the intention behind the ill-judged jab.
“Greenpeace told us that in the Amazon an area the size of 122 football pitches is chopped down every 90 minutes, which is shocking. Paddy Power’s #Shavetherainforest stunt helps to haul this issue into the public light, with our own little mischievous twist”
So what justification do Paddy Power make for their decision to get into environmental campaigning.
“We’ve been twiddling our thumbs since the Premier League ended and had a bit of time on our hands before the World Cup kicked off in Brazil.”
Oh right, they were bored. Fair enough then.
If you have any suggestions about what Paddy Power could have done to encourage action on deforestation in the Amazon, tweet them to @dothegreenthing. We’d love to hear form you.
