Advertising watchdog says use of bikini-clad model to promote spring flights was misleading as destinations would all be cold
The advertising watchdog has banned a campaign by Ryanair featuring a bikini-clad model and the promise of spring sun after most of the destinations on offer had maximum temperatures under a nippy 10C.
Budget airline Ryanair, no stranger to flexing its interpretation of advertising regulation in the past, ran a national press campaign promoting cheap tickets in February and March urging readers to "Book to the sun now!".
The ad featured a model in a bikini, lying on a beach wearing sunglasses while sipping a cocktail.
The Advertising Standards Authority received a complaint that the campaign was misleading because none of the destinations on offer ? which included 11 locations such as Rimini, Lourdes, Derry, Glasgow and Oslo ? would be warm in February or March.
Ryanair protested that despite the image used on the ad it meant destinations that had significant amounts of daytime sunshine during those months.
The ASA said that the maximum temperatures for the majority of the destinations ? seven of them ? were between 6C and 9C. The warmest three averaged 11C and 14C while the coldest, Oslo, managed 0C and 4C.
"We considered that the average consumer would infer from the claim 'Book to the sun now' and the image of the woman sunbathing, in a bikini, with a cocktail, that the promotion included fares to destinations warm enough to sunbathe in swimwear during the promotional period," the ASA said. "Because we understood this was not the case, we concluded that the ad was misleading."
The airline will not be allowed to run such adverts again.
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Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/apr/27/ryanair-bikini-ad-banned
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