Foxy Bingo axes Jordan from ads over pay demands

Foxy Bingo, the online operator, has dropped glamour model Jordan from its advertising. It is understood Foxy Bingo was unwilling to meet her huge pay demands.

The decision to drop Jordan, whose real name is Katie Price, will mean a renewed focus on the “Foxy” character – a man with fox’s head – which will now appear by itself on all promotional material for the brand, both off and online.

Foxy parent company Cashcade said last year it was going to divert its budget from direct marketing into television advertising, and was planning to quadruple its spend in 2008 (MW 6 September, 2007).

The company said it was responding to the likely increase in competition from online betting companies, able to advertise on TV, following the introduction of the Gambling Act 2005 on September 1 last year.

It is not known whether the decision to drop Jordan will affect these plans. A TV ad, fronted by the model, was due to go into production last September, but the failed negotiations over her fee mean this will no longer happen.

Cashcade says that celebrities will still form a part of Foxy Bingo’s marketing mix on radio and in magazine interviews. In September last year, the brand signed up astrologer Russell Grant as the face of a new game – Russell’s Lucky Stars. Grant also reads a monthly horoscope linked to a “lucky number” and gives regular interviews on Foxy Bingo’s online radio station.

Recommended

Sweet smell of innovation

Marketing Week

Reinvention has been the hallmark of Unilever’s bodyspray brand Lynx. But can new ads for the latest variants help it escape the lads’ cultural niche in which it is embedded? asks Louise Jack

British Gas announces price hike

Marketing Week

British Gas has become the third energy supplier to inflict misery on consumers with price hikes on gas and electricity. The company announced today (January 17) that it is to raise its prices by an average of 15%. Energywatch, the energy watchdog, says this latest hike means British Gas customers have seen bills go up […]