UK Advertising Watchdog Bans Ryanair’s ‘Jab And Go’ Campaign

The UK’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has banned a controversial holiday TV campaign from low-cost European airline Ryanair, now the third-most complained about campaign ever.
The campaign, known as ‘jab and go’, was designed to advertise the airline’s Boxing Day deals, encouraging consumers to book their Easter and summer holidays so they can get vaccinated for COVID-19 and start their travels.
It featured a small bottle labelled ‘vaccine’ and a syringe, and suggested travellers could grab a bargain on European holiday destinations because “you could jab and go”.
As B&T’s sister-publication, Travel Weekly, reports, the ad was rolled out on TV in the UK just weeks after the first COVID-19 jab was administered.
However, the campaign did not have the desired effect and instead stirred 2,370 complaints to the ASA, with some saying it was misleading, others that it was trivialising of ongoing restrictions, and others that it was irresponsible.
Ryanair said the assertions made in the ads were not out of touch with UK government goals and that the ads were designed to be “uplifting and encouraged viewers to consider a brighter future when restrictions were lifted and people could go on holiday with friends and family again”.
Additionally, Ryanair told the ASA that the ads “showed people holidaying within their social bubble, and said that there were no requirements that holidaymakers be shown wearing face masks or social distancing”.
The ASA ruled the ads broke the UK’s ad regulations relating to misleading and irresponsible advertising.
“We therefore considered some viewers were likely to infer that by Easter and summer 2021 it would be possible for anyone to get vaccinated in order to go on a booked holiday, that maximal protection could be achieved immediately through one dose of the vaccine, and that restrictions around social distancing and mask wearing would not be necessary once individuals were vaccinated,” the ASA said in its ruling.
“We considered this could encourage vaccinated individuals to disregard or lessen their adherence to restrictions, which in the short term could expose them to the risk of serious illness, and in the longer term might result in them spreading the virus. As such we considered the ads could encourage people to behave irresponsibly once vaccinated. The ads must not be broadcast again.”
In response to the ruling, a Ryanair spokesperson told B&T: “The ASA’s ruling flies in the face of the UK’s successful vaccine rollout, however even though this ruling is baseless, Ryanair will comply with it and the Jab & Go adverts will not run again.”
According to The Guardian, the ‘jab and go’ campaign sits at third on the most complained about campaigns in history behind Booking.com and Paddy Power.
In a national newspaper ad, Paddy Power promised losing punters their money back if South African athlete Oscar Pistorius was acquitted of allegedly killing his girlfriend. It is the most-complained about UK ad of all time—attracting 5,525 complaints and a ban.
While Booking.com was acquitted by the ASA for its controversial campaign which substituted the word ‘booking’ for a swearword, and prompted 2,451 complaints.
This isn’t the first time Ryanair has landed itself in hot water with the watchdog, after a 2019 ad claiming Ryanair was Europe’s “lowest emissions airline” was labelled “misleading” and in breach of several regulations by ASA.
Note: This article has been updated to reflect comments received from Ryanair.
Featured image source: YouTube/Another World
Latest News

Net Profit Up 60% For Southern Cross Austereo On The Back Of Leaner Operating Model
Southern Cross Austereo's profits up 60%! Which certainly made interviewing Grant Blackley today a lot less awkward.

Cummins&Partners Welcomes PR Agency Romano Beck, Bringing Creative, Media and PR Under One Roof
Cummins&Partners has welcomed Romano Beck, who may sound like a swarthy Italian actor but is actually a PR agency.

CarsGuide Partners With Mitsubishi, Wavemaker To Create Virtual Road Trips
CarsGuide, Mitsubishi and Wavemaker create virtual road trips that includes virtual car sickness.

Petition To Ban Same-Sex Kiss In Cadbury Crème Egg Ad Garners 56,000 Signatures
Cadbury Crème Eggs join Durex condoms & Frankie Goes To Hollywood on list of things Christians find hard to swallow.

Future of TV Advertising Conference: Times Are Tough, But We’re All In This Together
B&T's reporting live from today's Future Of TV event. Not before mistakenly going to the dental hygienist conference.

TV Will Not Only Build Your Brand, It Will Get Your Cash Registers Ringing
There can be no denying TV's power as an advertising medium. Putting aside Holey Moley and Plate Of Origin, that is.

TikTok Continues To Fight COVID Misinformation
Current COVID misinformation includes the vaccine can make you pregnant while developing a Lionel Richie addiction.

Wednesday TV Wrap: 10’s The Cube Debuts To 567,000, Gives MAFS A Little Hickey
B&T's delivering all of last night's TV numbers, dipped in chocolate, rolled in coconut, with a tasty jam-filled centre.

As Bruce Springsteen Is Cleared Of Drunk Driving Charge, Jeep Resumes Use Of Super Bowl Ad
With the Springsteen saga dealt with, Jeep now turns its focus to Michelle Bridges as its next brand ambassador.

WPP AUNZ’s Unveils 32.6% Profit Drop For 2020, Revenues down 14.1%
WPP AUNZ's results out today made for some pretty sobering reading. That's why B&T read them with a couple of daiquiris.

Faceook Pledges $US1 Billion To Support Journalism
Facebook pledges a billion dollars to journalism. Primarily journalism that involves cats playing the harpsichord.

Sam Armytage Hosts New Podcast For News Corp’s Stellar Magazine
Sam Armytage will be taking her Sunrise pedigree to new News Corp podcast. But don't let that put you off.

Impact Promotes Sam Morton To Partnership Director, Peter Bray To Sales Director
Impact's Sam Morton and Peter Bray pose for press photo before catching the ferry to Manly.

Delacon Adds Bridgestone Australia, Simply Energy and Smart Pay To Clients Roster
Delacon staff forced down the local Bob Jane T-Mart for new tyres after someone went and won the Bridgestone business.

Learning Your ABCs From Your AAIDs: Understanding Mobile Data
Learn your ABCs from your AAIDs with this top read. Although it does have a strobe effect for anyone with ADHD.

Comscore And Samba TV Launch CTV Partnership In Australia
Comscore has today announced the expansion of its TV measurement footprint to Australia, driven by its partnership with Samba TV, the leading global provider of omniscreen advertising data and audience analytics. The new connected TV (CTV) measurement solution, launched last year in select European markets, has now reached this key market in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) […]

UnLtd Launches MOOD Tea With All Proceeds Going To Fight Youth Suicide
B&T certainly takes our hats off to this top industry initiative. Our editor is even threatening to take his pants off.

Leo Burnett Snares CNH Industrial Australia Creative Account
Leos snares the CNH Industrial Australia creative account. Believes it to be some sort of farming/agricultural firm.

IVE Reinstates Interim Dividend Following Strong H1 Results
IVE has reinstated its interim dividend. Plans afoot to reinstate Arnott's Assorted Creams to office biscuit barrel.

How To Win With Video Advertising In 2021
Here are must-read tips on how to win with video advertising. Sadly, no tips on today's horse racing at Eagle Farm.

Think HQ Makes 18 New Hires
Absolutely no one knows anyone else's name in the Think HQ office this week after agency announces 18 new hires.

TikTok And Shopify Announce Partnership
TikTok & Shopify announce partnership. Can't decide on the vanilla cream sponge or chocolate mud for the cake cutting.

Toyota Media Pitch! Three Agencies Left As Race Goes Down To The Wire
As clarification, this article contains comments from "unnamed sources". Industry parlance for "possibly under crap".

Snapchat Research Suggests Millennials And Gen Z Embrace Value Driven Brands
Study finds Gen Ys & Zs "embrace value driven brands". Strangely they also like the music of Shawn Mendes & the cronut.

Woolworths Dominates Coles In New Years Sales
Woolworths dominates Coles in sales for first six weeks of 2021, as Status Quo's agent waits patiently by the phone.

Nine Secures Rights To Viral Britney Spears Doco
News of Britney's doco has created an excitement here at B&T not seen since the arrival of our cordless electric knife.

Women Leading Tech: Why HubSpot’s Kat Warboys Prioritises Transparency
HubSpot's Kat Warboys drops by the B&T office for a chat on all things tech and to critique our lemon drizzle cake.

Seven Signs Deal With Facebook Following News Backflip
The media companies continue to jump into bed with the tech giants. It's like a slightly less interesting MAFS episode.

RMIT Online Reveals Why Employees Don’t Want Free Lunches
Study reveals staff prefer training to free lunches. However, fat people did skew the numbers back in favour of lunch.

MAFS Teaser Trailer Accidentally Reveals Affair Spoiler
B&T does warn this comes with a MAFS spoiler alert. In so much as it includes randy, horrible people with bad tattoos.