madcomments

In the red corner Ryanair

Posted in Advertising, Marketing, Branwell Johnson, Latest reporters' blogs April 4th, 2008 by Branwell Johnson

Ryanair has evidently had enough of the ASA – and vice versa as in a tit for tat spat they have referred each other to Ofcom after the ad watchdog made a series of rulings against Ryanair’s ads.

Of course, the airline being the beast it is it made a very public statement about its complaint to Ofcom using inflammatory language and calling the ASA an “unelected quango”. In its usual low key and bureaucratic way the ASA wasn’t going to admit it had referred Ryanair to Ofcom until next week when it was to break the news by way of its weekly  “official” bulletin. It’s certainly the bruiser versus the gentleman in this clash.

Should Ryanair feel hard done by now it has received seven rulings? Its ads are cheeky, opportunistic and sometimes push the boundaries of good taste but I guess they do reflect the brand values of the airline and have to grab attention immediately, before a reader’s gaze wanders off to a pap picture of Britney Spears or the Sudoku.

Conspiracy theorists would posit that by doing this Ryanair is getting a high profile and more publicity at a time when the airline has stated it is to cut back its marketing spend. It could be trying to leverage the “outrage” dollar rather than the marketing dollar. Or is Michael O’Leary a real defender of free speech and civil liberties in the mould of Hustler publisher Larry Flynt?

To read the related news story visit mad.co.uk