ATHLETICS NEWS - A controversial commercial by an Australian sports betting company featuring disgraced sprinter Ben Johnson has been slammed by the government for glorifying drug cheats.
The 90-second advert by gambling firm Sportsbet introduces Johnson, at a desk surrounded by a medal and a trophy, as the 1988 Olympic gold medallist while attempting to make light of the scene by superimposing "*For 48 hours" below the fallen star.
"When it comes to performance enhancement Ben really knows his stuff, which is why he is happy to endorse Sportsbet's new juiced-up Android app," the narrator says, claiming the firm's phone betting application was putting "the roid into Android".
Australian Sports Minister Greg Hunt blasted the ad as "sending a message that cheating’s okay and should be rewarded and laughed at and glorified".
