Aer Lingus criticised over misleading ad

Wednesday 20th May 2009

The Advertising Standards Authority has been investigating an Aer Lingus advert which "was likely to mislead" customers after receiving a complaint from rival airline easyJet.

The advert promotes Aer Lingus' new direct flights from Gatwick with a voice-over and on-screen text, but the two elements were seen to be contradictory.

Low-cost airline easyJet complained when the new advert announced its prices using the word 'from' in the voice-over while the on-screen text didn't.

Aer Lingus' argument that the voice-over was clear and more prominent than the text was disregarded by the ASA who insisted on that changes be made.

The Irish airline agreed to adjust the wording in the advert, adding the word 'from' to the on-screen text in the 'interests of clarity'.

ASA commented on the advert saying: "We considered that the contradiction between the on-screen text and voice-over could pontentially confuse consumers as to the actual stated price,"

"Although we acknowledged that the difference was marginal, we considered that the price was a key attribute of the advertised service and the overall message and therefore should have been stated clearly and unambiguously. Because it had not, we concluded that the ad was likely to mislead."

Paul Simmons, easyJet's UK regional general manager, said: "We always welcome healthy competition. It's good for everyone. But launching into a new market with an advert that breached the TV advertising code on four different counts under the "misleading" category and one count on "accurate pricing" is an unusual way to announce your arrival."