Paddy Power has been banned by the Advertising Standards Authority from ever using its 'It's Oscar Time... Money Back if he Walks' campaign. The ad watchdog made its decision after upholding complaints against the Irish bookmaker over what it deemed as a tasteless attempt to make a joke out of domestic violence.

The ASAI released a detailed ruling of the controversy, calling Paddy's attempt to get people interested in the Oscar Pistorius trial as a breach in advertisers' code.

Paddy initially earned the wrath of countless people after it released an advert of the South African athlete's face on an Academy Award statuette and offered to refund all wagers on the verdict of Pistorius' murder case with the tagline "money back if he walks." Complaints came fast and in a hurry with a lot of people voicing their displeasure about the way Paddy seemed to trivialize and make light out of a serious murder trial involving Pistorius.

Yet for all the brouhaha this has caused, the punishment is tantamount to finger wag and a slap on the wrist.

The advertising watchdog even acknowledged as much, pointing out that it can't do anything to punish Paddy Power outside of addressing the complaints made on the ad itself. So in effect, Paddy's getting off easily from this latest bout of controversy and we're betting our money that the Irish jokesters won't have any problems brushing this one off and concentrating on the next stunt they plan to pull.

But ever the true champion of defending its own actions, Paddy remained firm in its belief that while it does skirt that thin line of decency with its campaigns, it understands that crossing it entirely is something it tries to stay away from. Heck, it even tried the age-old strategy of covering up its dirt with a clean cloth by pointing out its "proud" sponsorship of the Irish amputee football team which will compete in the amputee world cup in Mexico next December.

At the very least, Paddy Power can finally move on from this. You still can count on its unpredictability, especially its penchant to just show up on any given time at any given place with a new stunt to pull (see: Moyes-Grim Reaper). But with the ASAI's ruling, people can take comfort knowing that they're not going to see that Oscar Pistorius advert again.

This is a reprint from calvinayre.com. To view the original, click here.