Oh, the irony! You’ve just got to love the guys at Paddy Power for thinking of the most outrageous marketing stints. Reminds me of the days when Golden Casino online casino would pull similar stunts in the US market (remember Britney Spears’ pregnancy test and the grilled cheese sandwich in the shape of the Virgin Mary??). This time, Paddy Power paid £10,000 to have its name placed on a new confession box at Our Lady and St Etheldreda Church in the racing town of Newmarket, Suffolk. All that the church could say about the matter was that it had never before been approached to have a confession box sponsored, and certainly not by a gambling firm. Now fancy that! “It’s a great fit and perhaps over time confessing your sins in a Paddy Power confession box will become a tradition for race-goers,” said the Irish bookie.
So in honor of the Irish for bringing us Paddy Power: On St. Patrick’s Day, an Irishman stumbles out of the pub and drives home, dangerously weaving through lanes. He is pulled over by a cop who asks him where he’s been. “Te de pub,” mumbled the driver. “That’s obvious!” retorts the cop. “And did you know that a few intersections back, your wife fell out of your car?” “Oh, thank goodness!” said the drunk. “For a minute there, I thought I’d gone deaf.”