Louise Nousratpour, Equalities Reporter
Tuesday December 13, 2011
The Morning Star
Over 8,000 people have demanded a ban on a "sexist" Ryanair advert which shows a scantly clad cabin crew member under the caption "Red Hot Fares & Crew."
Flight attendant Ghada led an online Cabin Crew Against Sexism campaign and created a petition after seeing the advertisement published in the Guardian.
She called on the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) to ban the advert today and said: "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."
Samantha Mangwana of Russell Jones & Walker law firm, which specialises in discrimination cases, said: "If any staff do suffer sexual harassment, Ryanair may well have made themselves vulnerable to a valid legal challenge with such an advert."
But a Ryanair spokesperson defended the advert, which is based on a calendar featuring stewardesses in their underwear.
"Our cabin crew calendar has raised €500,000 (£423,000) for charity in just five years and we will continue to support the right of our crew to take their clothes off to raise money for those who need it most," the spokesperson said.
The ASA is currently investigating the advert but has not given a deadline for the decision.
A spokesman added: "We have received complaints about a Ryanair advert that has appeared in a national newspaper. We have launched a full investigation."
Ryanair has attracted criticism over a number of years for sexist advertising.
Its advert of a young woman posing as a schoolgirl was banned by the ASA in 2008, which described it as "irresponsible" and appearing to link teenage girls with sexually provocative behaviour.
And Mary Honeyball MEP described Ryanair in 2010 as "still plane stupid" for publishing its fourth charity calendar featuring female staff posing in bikinis.
No comments:
Post a Comment