Criticism
Paddy Power has drawn criticism for offering controversial markets, such as odds on the first species to be driven to extinction by the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, on a prospective assassination of United States President Barack Obama, and on the potential extinction of the polar bear in December 2009.
Paddy Power's advertising campaigns have also been criticised. One showed sight-impaired footballers kicking a cat, about which the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) received 400 complaints. Another involved the model Imogen Thomas alongside a tagline using a double entendre. Paddy Power also received hundreds of complaints and was accused of transphobia by members of the LGBT community in February 2012 when the company released an advertising campaign to distinguish "the stallions from the mares" by placing transgender women in the crowds at the Cheltenham Festival. The ASA ruled that the advert could not be broadcast in the United Kingdom.
Additionally, the company has been criticised for not paying out on bets with large odds. In May 2009, when Shane Lowry won the Irish Open, it stated that it would not pay out on the 3000/1 odds which it had mistakenly offered and instead reached 'an arrangement' with the customers involved.
During a UEFA Euro 2012 match between Denmark and Portugal on 13 June 2012, Danish forward Nicklas Bendtner celebrated his second goal by lowering his shorts and lifting his shirt to reveal a pair of Paddy Power underpants, leading to criticism from the national team's sponsor Ladbrokes and tournament organisers UEFA. Bendtner was fined €100,000 by UEFA and banned for one game. He described his actions as being regrettable and not premeditated.
In early March 2014, 5,525 complaints, the most ever recorded, were made to the United Kingdom Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) via an online petition launched for Paddy Power to withdraw an offer for betting on the outcome of the South African trial of Oscar Pistorius for murder of his girlfriend. On 19 March 2014, the ASA upheld all 5,525 complaints that the advertisement was insensitive, made light of disability, the death of a woman and a murder trial, and brought advertising itself into disrepute. The advert was discussed on an episode of The Last Leg, where Adam Hills made an impassioned speech condemning it.
Prior to the 2014 FIFA World Cup, Paddy Power posted a photo on its Twitter account, sourced from Reddit, allegedly showing an overhead view of a Brazilian rainforest with the message "C'MON ENGLAND PP" spelled out by the former locations of trees that had been cut down. Following major criticisms over the advert from users, it was revealed on 8 June 2014 that the images were fake, and part of a campaign by Paddy Power to promote its anti-deforestation charity effort.
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In July 2014, Paddy Power was criticised by the Information Commissioner's Office for its response to an incident in 2010, where a hacker was able to obtain personal information of more than 649,000 people from its website. The data included addresses, email addresses, phone numbers, dates of birth and security questions and answers. Paddy Power did not inform the Information Commissioner's Office until four years later.
In September 2017, Paddy Power offered odds on a dead footballer, Ugo Ehiogu, to become the new manager of Birmingham City F.C. The company said it had made an error. For the 2018 FIFA World Cup, Paddy Power was criticised for its controversial polar bear graffiti stunt, with a Russian polar bear being emblazoned with an England flag. Paddy Power claimed the stunt was to raise awareness of the plight of polar bears in the Russian Arctic.
In October 2018, Paddy Power Betfair received a £2.2 million fine from the UK Gambling Commission, after an investigation revealed that the company broke the commission's rules regarding social responsibility and anti-money laundering.
In December 2018, Paddy Power and William Hill faced further criticism after allegations that they allowed a gambling addict to wager thousands of pounds in stolen cash. Victims of the theft seek £965,000 from Paddy Power that has not been compensated after the previous fine from October of that year.
In May 2023, Paddy Power was fined £490,000 by The Gambling Commission for sending a promotional push notification to customers who had signed up to exclude themselves from gambling and inviting them to bet on a football match.
