ASA Adjudication on Ryanair Ltd

Ad

A regional press ad, in the Belfast Telegraph, for flight offers from Ryanair was headlined "LOW FARES FINALLY IN BELFAST!". The ad showed a photograph of Sinn Fein politicians Martin McGuinness and Gerry Adams being interviewed by the press. A speech bubble from Martin McGuinness's mouth, stated "RYANAIR FARES ARE SO LOW EVEN THE BRITISH ARMY FLEW HOME …".

Issue

1. Two complainants objected that the ad trivialised and mocked the role of the British Army in Northern Ireland and believed it was likely to cause serious offence and distress to the families of British soldiers who were killed serving in Northern Ireland.

2. Michael Copeland, a member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (NIA), and three members of the public challenged whether the ad was offensive, because it trivialised Northern Ireland's recent past and political circumstances.

Michael Copeland and a member of the public:

3. challenged whether the ad was offensive, because it implied that the British Army were not "at home" in Northern Ireland; and

4. challenged whether the ad and, in particular the image of Sinn Fein politicians and the reference to the British Army, was likely to cause serious offence and distress to the families of people who had been killed during terrorist campaigns in Northern Ireland.

CAP Code (Edition 11)

Response

Ryanair believed the ad was not offensive and did not imply that Northern Ireland was not part of the UK.  They explained that the ad was topical, because of the recent press coverage of the British Army regiments, based in mainland Britain, that were leaving their position in Northern Ireland after being stationed there for several years.  They said the ad had been published in two newspapers with a joint circulation of over 135,000 and they believed that, because only four complaints had been received in total, the majority of readers had not found the ad offensive, but humorous and topical.

The Belfast Telegraph explained that, as a local Belfast newspaper, they had operated in difficult circumstances over the last 30 years and that they took great care to be sensitive to the political opinion of their readers and to avoid publishing anything which they believed could cause offence.  They said they had not received any direct complaints or comments about the ad.  They said they regretted that complaints had been received, but that they believed the ad was not offensive and should be viewed as a jocular comment on the changed political environment of Northern Ireland.  

Assessment

1., 2., 3. & 4. Not upheld

The ASA noted the ad was topical at the time it was published, due to the well-reported withdrawal of the army regiments back to mainland Britain.  We acknowledged that the complainants had found the approach tasteless in the context of the recent political history of Northern Ireland, which had included acts of violence.  However, we considered that, in the context of an ad for flights departing from Belfast, the use of the picture of the two well-known Sinn Fein politicians and the reference to the British Army would be understood by most readers as a light-hearted reference to the recent withdrawal of troops from Northern Ireland.  We considered that readers were unlikely to infer from the ad that British troops were not at home in Northern Ireland and concluded that it was unlikely to cause serious or widespread offence, or cause distress to most readers of the Belfast Telegraph.

The ad was investigated under CAP Code clauses 5.1 and 5.2 (Decency) and 9.1 (Fear and distress), but we did not find it in breach.

Action

No further action required.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Non-broadcast)