ASA Clears Ryanair’s Controversial Saddam Ads

The ASA has refused to censure a series of national press ads for Ryanair featuring Sadam Hussein, despite complaints they were offensive and trivialised the Gulf war.

One of the ads showed a statue of Saddam Hussein being pulled down and stated: “Fares falling faster than Saddam”. Another pictured Iraqi information minister, Muhammad Sai’d al-Sahhaf, appearing to say: “We’re winning the war! We’re beating the Americans and Easyjet have the lowest fares.”

Complainants objected that the ads were in bad taste because they made light of the war and appeared next to an article about the conflict in the Iraq. They also felt the use of Muhammad Sai’d al-Sahhaf’s image to denigrate a competitor was inappropriate.

The advertisers claimed the war had adversely affected the European air travel industry and said they had designed the ads to draw attention to their low fares. They insisted they did not intend to trivialise the war and explained that, due to the high volume of coverage of events, they could not avoid the ads being placed on the same page as articles about the conflict.

The ASA considered that the ads did not show pictures of a violent or distressing nature and did not trivialise the deaths, injuries or plight of those involved in the conflict. It concluded that although distasteful, the ads were not likely to cause serious or widespread offence.

Earlier this month the ASA dismissed a raft of complaints against a Government-backed gun amnesty campaign, which featured the graphic image of a child with a gunshot wound to the forehead (see ASA Refuses To Blast Graphic Gun Amnesty Ad).

ASA: 020 7580 5555 www.asa.org.uk

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