The UK’s advertising watchdog has banned Ryanair’s “jab and go” holiday advertisement campaign, were third-most complained-about of all time, citing concerns it encourages the public to act irresponsibly once they have received the coronavirus vaccine.
In the first advert, launched on Boxing Day, Ryanair featured a small bottle labelled “vaccine” and a syringe along with the line “you could jab and go”.
“Covid vaccines are coming so book your Easter and summer holidays today with Ryanair” it said.
Prompting 2,370 complaints, some saying the ad was misleading as it made suggestion that people would be vaccinated by the spring or summer and that there would be no restrictions in place and others due to people being led to believe that once they had even the first vaccination shot they would not need to follow health restrictions.
The ASA ruled the ads broke UK regulations relating to misleading and irresponsible advertising.
“We 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 complaints, Ryanair said the underlying message of the ads were to be “uplifting and encourage viewers to consider a brighter future”.
“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 and go adverts will not run again.”
