Two UK newspaper adverts for budget airline Ryanair have been banned following complaints from readers and an online campaign claiming they were sexist.
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), has banned the ads, saying they were likely to cause offense.
The adverts showed women posing in bra and pants with the headline “Red Hot Fares & Crew! One way from £9.99”.
The campaign adverts have now been banned after a concerted effort from thousands of members of the public, who had called for it to be axed.
The promotion caused outrage when it was launched late last year, with more than 7,000 people signing an online petition to get it banned.
The internet campaign against Ryanair was led by a flight attendant called Ghada.
On the petition at change.org, she wrote, “I’m a member of cabin crew. I love my job and take it seriously, so I was disgusted to see this Ryanair ad which basically portrays cabin crew as glamour models. My work colleagues, many of whom are male, work hard with me to ensure the safety of our passengers. Safety is our number-one priority, not the brand of our underwear… No other profession would get away with depicting women in this way.”
Ryanair claimed that, since crew members volunteered to take part, it could not be seen to “objectify” women.
The airline said the adverts promoted its cabin crew charity calendar and used images taken directly from it.
The adverts featured in the Guardian, the Independent and the Daily Telegraph.
Ryanair said the promotion, which had the strapline ‘Red Hot Fares & Crew’, featured shots taken from its 2012 cabin crew charity calendar.
It defended the campaign saying the pictures were not sexist because staff members had volunteered to produce the images, the ASA said.
But the watchdog disagreed and ruled the adverts could not appear again.
“We also considered that most readers would interpret these images, in conjunction with the text ‘Red hot fares & crew!!!’ and the names of the women, as linking female cabin crew with sexually suggestive behaviour,” it said.
“Although we acknowledged that the women in the ads had consented to appear in the calendar, we considered that the ads were likely to cause widespread offence when displayed in a national newspaper.”