Unluckyforsome, an online bingo portal that features news and reviews from the bingo world, launched its ‘Show Us Your Bingo Wings’ competition in July 2009. The competition was launched because the portal wanted a new advertising campaign that featured a real woman with a bubbly personality rather than a thin model.

Ads were placed on the Internet and in job centres throughout the UK. They controversially asked for a ‘grossly overweight’ lady with a ‘huge personality’. The competition was also featured in the Daily Star magazine. Wink Bingo, also sponsors of the competition, put out a request for photos of women via the Internet that would be entered into the competition. The first ten people to send a photo showcasing their bingo wings won £50 in their Wink Bingo accounts.

The Unluckyforsome team put together a shortlist of 10 finalists from over 200 entries. These finalists were taken to a secret London location on 24th September where the final selection was made.

The winner was 38-year old London-based actress Iliana Flade, a former underwear model, catwalk model and body double for UK celebrities Dawn French and Fern Britton. Her prize included £1,000 prize money and a £100,000 contract to appear in Unluckyforsome’s future advertising campaign.

However, the campaign was under fire from some critics in the industry. They complained that this competition and resulting campaign could undermine their efforts to market online bingo to a younger demographic. Also, some critics argued that a campaign that glorifies obesity should not be allowed in the current climate.