Has Paddy McGuinness Left Jackpotjoy?
Published On 26th August 2022
Earlier in the month we told you about Jackpotjoy celebrating their 20th Birthday. They've opened a new Joy Bingo Room and have been offering players the chance to win a share of 20,000 spins each day in a featured promotion. However whilst these celebrations have been ongoing there's one thing that seems to have quietly faded away on Jackpotjoy - and that one thing is Mr Paddy McGuinness. From what we can it looks like the successor to the late great Dame Barbara Windsor's Queen of Bingo has ended his reign. Images of Paddy in his JPJ blue tracksuit have been replaced on the main website whilst social media pages have been updated with a new 'Celebrating Winners For 20 Years' banner.
A History Of Royal Bingo
Paddy McGuiness became the new face of Jackpotjoy in September 2017 and featured in adverts with the Queen Of Bingo who endorsed the succession. At the time Paddy revealed that it was "a thrill to be Jackpotjoy’s new royal ambassador" and to "receive the final endorsement from the legendary Barbra Windsor". Paddy's appointment was celebrated by Jackpotjoy who ran several promotions offering royal themed merchandise as prizes including a few thousand Royal Bolton plates. A few of these prizes ended up on eBay, although we're not sure in any of them sold, but we do know that at least one went to a local South Wales charity shop (cough). After this initial flurry of activity Paddy's role with Jackpotjoy seemed to be only to appear in several adverts, including Winning Hugs and his image being used throughout social media. Most certainly Paddy didn't seem to be involved with JPJ as much as his predecessor although perhaps that may have come down to Paddy's time commitments and/or Jackptjoy's martketing strategy due to UKGC rules. Most certainly Paddy's reign didn't hit the same levels of fun as Grannies racing on mobility scooters, tea parties and 'Show Us Your Balls'.
The End Of The Royal Line?
At the moment we're simply speculating that it's the end of the royal dynasty at Jackpotjoy. However there may be other reasons for the departure of Paddy from his ambassadorial role. As of 1st October, CAP – The Committee of Advertising Practice, has ruled that UK licensed gambling operators will no longer be able to use sports stars and celebrities in marketing campaigns. There are some caveats in place but basically any advertising shouldn't involve popular personalities who are likely to influence under 18s. We think that Paddy McGuinness through his various shows could have some influence on a younger generation so perhaps his position as ambassador was not sustainable? If you look across other bingo and slots brands only Heart (Olly Murs) and 32Red (Keith Lemon) currently have celebrity endorsement. In the current UKGC climate it's most certainly easier to not use a celebrity than risk the wrath of a hefty fine or even losing a gambling licence. On the other hand it may well be that Jackpotjoy want to move direction with their marketing and the 20th Anniversary celebrations were a good time to change things.
Celebrating Winners For 20 Years
New banners on Jackpotjoy's Facebook page highlight what we expect is the start of a new 'Celebrating Winners For 20 Years' campaign. The image features a handful of men and women all celebrating a win on the site. Interestingly the image includes more men than women which we find quite refreshing. Similar images are also starting to appear on the JPJ website. We do wonder whether Jackpotjoy - and indeed other brands - have looked at Tombola's tried and tested marketing methods which includes using actual players in their TV ads. Tombola have in fact just released their latest advert where the people who spend money on the site are the stars. This helps create a real community feel - Tombola for example ran a prize draw inviting players to appear in their next advert - and also saves an operator falling foul of any more celebrity rules that CAP or UKGC may introduce further down the line. It also keeps the ads pretty timeless and saves re-inventing a brand over and over again (e.g. like Gala).
Have We Jumped The Gun?
Just as we were about to publish this article we thought we'd take one last check over Jackpotjoy - and what do we see? Paddy McGuiness featuring in a welcome bonus image for new players!! So have we jumped the gun and decided the demise of The King of Bingo well before the demise of The King of Bingo? Possibly but firstly all the evidence (bar one image) points in the direction of the end of the royal line at Jackpotjoy so we're sticking with our theory. Secondly we like writing these kind of articles because it generally means the writers who visit us to then go off and create their little news bites and content can't rip it off without looking more obvious than they normally do. Of course if we're wrong and Paddy is continuing his reign at Jackpotjoy beyond the end of the month then we'll let you know straight away.
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