If Nike set the bar for flashy spectacle ahead of this month’s World Cup, then Bet-at-home.com has done the same for stupid humor. The online gambling company has had three ads banned in Austria for showing everyday people taking out various petty frustrations by headbutting their adversaries in the style of Zinedine Zidane, the mercurial Frenchman who memorably knocked Italy’s Marco Materazzi to the turf with his noggin in extra time of the 2006 final. Austria’s advertising watchdog said the ads (one below, two more after the jump) irresponsibly convey “that violence can be used to solve conflicts” and could cause an “an unwanted copycat effect” in children. They’re still pretty funny, though.
—Posted by Tim Nudd