Sportbet’s ‘putting the roid in Android’ TV spot tests negative

Australian online betting operator SportsBet is catching heat for an advertisement that critics claim makes light of athletes’ use of performance enhancing drugs (PED).

Sportsbet debuted a new 90-second television commercial this weekend featuring former sprinter Ben Johnson, the Canadian who won gold in the 100m sprint at the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games, only to have his medal rescinded days later after drug tests revealed the presence of anabolic steroids in Johnson’s system.

The ad (viewable below) promotes Sportsbet’s new “juiced up” Android app, which the voiceover hails for “putting the ‘roid in Android,” while Ben himself hails the app for “testing positive for speed.”

The spot also features a blazingly fast American cyclist who may or may not be intended to remind you of drugs cheat Lance Armstrong, along with a surprisingly buff female swimmer (complete with visible Adam’s Apple) and a weightlifter who doesn’t want anything going up his back passage.