ASA raps Ryanair over Prince Charles image
Low-cost airline Ryanair has been rapped by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) for using an image of Prince Charles to promote its low fares.
The ad, which ran in several newspapers under the headline: “Prince’s Secret Revealed.” attracted 19 complaints, although none were from the Prince’s official office at St James’s Palace. The ASA ruled that the ads were irreverent to the Royal Family and has upheld the complaints.
The ASA has ruled that the budget airline should have got permission to use photographs of the Royal Family in ad campaigns.
The ASA has banned a Nokia UK ad campaign for the combined phone and handheld games console N-Gage. The campaign, created by Grey Advertising, comprises a series of executions. One of the ads carries the strapline: “This is where I took on three guys… and made them cry like babies” and shows a picture of an alleyway at night. The ad has been upheld for being offensive and distressing in its depiction of violence and crime.
The ASA has upheld complaints against three other ads in the same series, which it says condone and encourage sexual violence towards women.
The advertising watchdog has upheld complaints against an “offensive” press ad for the Elle Macpherson Intimates range of lingerie. The ad shows the torso and thighs of a woman wearing bra and knickers The woman’s thumbs are inside her knickers. The ASA has banned the ad on the grounds that the image suggests that the model is masturbating.
