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LONDON (AP) — Britain's advertising regulator has told a betting firm to withdraw an ad featuring a picture of Oscar Pistorius and the slogan: "It's Oscar time. Money back if he walks."
The Advertising Standards Authority said Wednesday that 5,200 people had complained about the promo for bookmaker Paddy Power, "an unprecedented number of complaints."
Tens of thousands of people backed an online campaign accusing the ad of trivializing violence against women.
The regulator said the advertisement, which featured an image of the double amputee runner mocked up to resemble an Academy Awards statuette, could cause "serious and/or widespread offense."
Pistorius is on trial in South Africa, charged with the murder of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp. She was shot dead last year at the athlete's home in what he says was an accident.
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