Spirit Airlines Advertising: Edgy or Over the Line?
Not all publicity is good publicity.
Spirit Airlines has been in the news headlines quite a bit in 2010. In February, they held 200 passengers on the tarmac in New York for more than two hours and refused to pass out water. In April, they announced they were going to start charging passengers up to $45 for a carry-on bag. Earlier this month, their pilots went on strike and stopped all flights, stranding 16,000 passengers. For a small, low-cost airline they sure have made a name for themselves lately.
But besides all the coverage about their baggage fees and their striking pilots, Spirit Air has gotten a lot of attention over their advertising. There's no doubt it's edgy, but to some it may seem downright crude. As a copywriter I'm all for pushing the envelope, creating ads that get attention and trying something different. But Spirit's idea of edgy can be pretty juvenile and sexist. One of their online ads features the headline Many Unbelievably Fantastic Fares to Diving destinations. Really, Spirit? An oral sex joke? I guess they're willing to "go there."
Then there was the ad featuring the line Many Islands Low Fares with an island visual that includes the shape of a woman on her back. Is it just a coincidence that MILF also stands for Mom I'd Like to...you get the idea. Considering the woman on her back I'm gonna say no. These are just two examples. There's a bunch more, unfortunately. Or fortunately if you're into that kinda thing I suppose.
BP Oil jokes - Too Soon?
So now that Spirit Air has tried the route of sexist humor that appeals to college boys (their demographic perhaps?) they took a different approach for their latest attention-getting ads - making fun of the BP oil spill. And if you look at the attention it's gotten in the blogosphere, apparently making light of the oil spill is way worse than objectifying women. Who knew?
The latest ads feature greased-up women (okay, so they haven't completely given up objectifying women) laying on the beach with the headline: Check out the oil on our beaches. Spirit denied that the ads were making light of the spill when they released this statement: "It is unfortunate that some may have misunderstood our intention with today's beach promotion. We are merely addressing the false perception that we have oil on our beaches, and we are encouraging customers to support Florida and our other beach destinations by continuing to travel to these vacation hot spots." But some of the ads also featured a suntan bottle with the words "Best Protection." Oh, like BP? Gosh, how could I misunderstand?
The ads were pulled almost immediately so I guess even Spirit can admit when they've gone too far. So are the ads "good?" They're getting attention that's for sure. Whether or not they're helping to get people on board I don't know. I will say it's refreshing to see somebody taking risks when so many companies are afraid to given the current economic climate. But making fun of the oil spill may have been too risky, even for Spirit Air.
What are your thoughts on the ads?
About the Author: Holly Ringerud
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2 comments so far
Jake Johnson says:
When I saw those "Oil" ads I thought they were a joke. I was surprised to find an actual company thought exploiting a tragedy would actually help their business.
Personally, I'd never heard of Spirit Airlines, and after seeing the ads, I made mental note never to give them my business. So, they've lost at least one potential customer because of it.
I'm all for risks too, but I think there are better ways to go about it than this junk. Sex jokes and exploitation aren't really risky at the end of the day. Your average frat boy can make up killer MILF/MUFF jokes. It takes truly great creativity and intelligence to pull off authentic risky ads.
Erik Johnson says:
Over the top and will do very little for their sales. Shocking can work but this goes way too far.