How Not to Advertise

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November 2, 2010 By 10 Comments

Ttavelling over to the UK on Sunday I was totally shocked by Ryan Air’s approach to advertising smokeless cigarettes during the flight.

cigarette advertisingSo there I was settling in, relaxing during my flight over from Stockholm when one of the stewards cheerily announced over the speakers that “Ryan Air likes smokers.”

He then went on to tell the passengers that they could “buy smokeless cigarettes onboard” to “enjoy with coffee and relax.”

The positive, enthusiastic tone of his advertising pitch was astounding given that he was promoting a tobacco product on an EU flight.

What’s more, there was no mention of the fact that tobacco products can harm your health. Or that only persons over the age of 18 could purchase the cigarettes.

For a moment as I sat reeling in shock in my seat I wondered if I was back in the 1960s.

Is this the most bizarre experience of inflight advertising you’ve heard of?

Filed Under: advertising
About Jon

Marketing and Communications Consultant. Head of Jontus Media. Podcaster. Life-long Liverpool FC supporter. Guarded by basset hounds.

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  • http://twitter.com/mcmullen_greg Gregory A McMullen

    In school we actually had a case study in my Strategic Management class about RyanAir. The CEO of the company is quite standoffish, however his business model is successful. They have a very different approach when it comes to flights, food, and amenities, however they are also one of the most successful European airlines.nnThanks for the post, it was quite intriguing.

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  • http://spinsucks.com Gini Dietrich

    First of all, WHY are there smokeless cigarettes?! So people can smoke them in public places? Isn’t the point that they are BAD FOR YOU, even for the people around you? And not that the smoke smells? I’m astounded. Truly. And here I thought my experiences with security at the airport in Chicago were bad. This tops it.

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  • http://www.jontusmedia.com/ Jon Buscall

    I know. I know. But the enthusiastic, cheery way they were promoting it over the speakers on the plane horrified me SO much. There was no mention to children of the dangers.