News: Ryanair court controversy over Northern Ireland ad
Flights > News > # 1425 (15/08/2007)
Ryanair has been accused of "scraping the bottom of the barrel" with its latest advertisement which features the Army's withdrawal from Northern Ireland.
The advertisement, which promotes the airline's new Belfast flight routes, appeared in newspapers on Monday. It features a picture of Sinn Fein MP Martin McGuinness with a speech bubble saying "the company's fares are so low even the British army flew home".
Ulster Unionist Party councillor Michael Copeland said it was "insensitive, crass and made a clear political statement".
Copeland added: "The Ryanair marketing department are clearly stupid if they think that an advert like this is going to endear their company to a large chunk of the Northern Ireland travelling public. To many like me who served in the Army, Northern Ireland is home.
"This shock tactic and 'oh no they didn't' style of advertising may have worked in the past, but I would recommend that Ryanair focuses on what it does best: cheap flights, rather than offending people with crass advertising like this."
A Ryanair spokesman quipped: "Maybe Mr Copeland needs a break - he certainly needs a sense of humour.”
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