Advert featuring disgraced ex-sprinter Ben Johnson criticised after claiming phone app 'puts the 'roid in Android'
The Canadian sprinter was stripped of his 100m Olympic gold medal and two world records
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A betting company has been heavily criticised by Australia’s anti-doping authority after releasing an advert featuring drugs cheat Ben Johnson, where they claimed their app “tested positive for speed and power again and again”.
Canadian former sprinter Johnson was stripped of his 100m Olympic gold medal from the 1988 Seoul games – where he also broke the world record – after testing positive for a banned steroid.
As well as being stripped of the medal and world record, he also admitted achieving his previous world record under the influence of performance-enhancing drugs.
The Australian betting company Sportsbet uses a number of doping-related puns throughout the advert, including a claim that their app is a “hit with performance-enhancement experts all over the world” and that it “puts the ‘roid in Android”.
However, Australia’s anti-doping authority (Asada) said the advert was “making light of the use of performance-enhancing drugs”, while the country’s sports minister Greg Hunt called it “utterly inappropriate”.
In a statement, Asada said: “This advert makes light of the use of performance-enhancing drugs in sport and sends the completely wrong message that the use of drugs in sport is normal.
“This advertising campaign belittles the achievements of clean athletes and denigrates those who work to protect clean sport across the world.”
Sportsbet defended the advert and insisted it would not be pulled, saying they made “no apologies for injected some humour into advertising” but did not “condone the use of performance-enhancing drugs”.
It is not the first time Johnson has used his doping background to promote brands, when he appeared in an advert for energy drink Cheetah Power Surge.
In the asked “do you Cheetah?” to which Johnson responded “absolutely, I Cheetah all the time”.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments