RyanAir, the airline I love to hate is in hot water. Not content with running a business that feels more like an overpriced mobile shopping mall, RyanAir has been ordered to withdraw an advert deemed socially unacceptable by the Advertising Standards Authority. The advert, which featured a model clad in attire more like you’d expect to see on a porn DVD cover, was run in the the Herald, Daily Mail and Scottish Daily Mail. It prompted 13 protests. This from the BBC:

After an investigation, the watchdog ruled the advert breached the advertising code’s rules on social responsibility and decency.

“We considered that her appearance and pose, in conjunction with the heading ‘Hottest’, appeared to link teenage girls with sexually provocative behaviour and was irresponsible and likely to cause serious or widespread offence,” the watchdog said.

RyanAir, refused in what has become something of a pugnacious attitude towards any regulator. It claimed the Advertising Standards Authority was acting as censor. Neville Hobson, quoting from responses to the report views RyanAir’s cavalier attitude characterises the episode as something of a PR disaster:

It also displays a little arrogance where some humility might go down better: referring to the regulator as a “bunch of unelected self-appointed dimwits” is hardly going to get you much sympathy.

Commenters to Neville’s post broadly agreed. They said however that in the end, RyanAir’s posture almost guarantees they get plenty of free media coverage (sic) but that people will still check out their prices and book flights.

It seems to me that if a company doesn’t care then it is difficult to see what can be done. The obvious answer is massive financial penalties embodied in law with no right of appeal. Some will argue that smacks of interference. Maybe so but if that’s what it takes to bring a brand into line then I’m for it.

Perceptions matter but when management chooses to stick two fingers up at regulators, then you have to wonder who is the more cynical. The brand or those who buy from them? More to the point, if it doesn’t cares about who may be offended by its advertising, then what other liberties might it be taking?

In the meantime, I try hard to avoid flying with this airline. It blames government at every turn for higher airfares yet often seems determined to wring the last penny out of its passengers.