'Great Plane Robber' Adverts Pulled
by Matthew Sparkes, London, UK on 07.20.07
The new UK Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, was depicted as the 'Great Plane Robber' in a series of Ryanair adverts which have been pulled out of circulation. Brown increased air passenger duty, apparently to reduce the impact of aviation on the environment, although Ryanair obviously were implying that it was instead motivated by profit. They claimed that the government would make more than £1bn from the increase and that they didn't plan to invest any of the revenue into environmental projects.
The Advertising Standards Authority received a total of 48 complaints, most relating to Ryanair's claim that, "aviation accounts for just 2% of CO2 emissions". These claims were found to be unreliable and without basis, so the adverts were pulled. The authority also disagreed with Ryanair's claim that none of the tax revenue would be used in environmental projects. The government said that some of the money would go towards, "environmental measures and in increasing public transport".
I previously covered another advert that was banned for dubious environmental claims, when Lexus advertised their SUV as being greener than it actually was. In that piece I suggested that contacting the Advertising Standards Authority when these claims look dubious is a wonderful way of holding companies to account. It appears that it still is. ::Guardian
Read the adjudication here:
http://www.asa.org.uk/asa/adjudications/Public/TF_ADJ_42885.htm