EasyJet has been rapped by the ASA after rival Ryanair complained over an ad promoting cheap business flights.
Ryanair objected that the claim “We charge you less” was misleading because its fares were cheaper than easyJet’s on a number of routes.
EasyJet defended its headline claim “The new shape of business travel” along with multiple references to “business travel,” saying that this made it clear that the ad was targeted at corporate travellers rather than leisure flyers and that it communicated the advantages of business travel.
But the ASA ruled that the ad was misleading and easyJet was ordered not to run it again.
“We considered that the ad did not make clear the nature of the comparison being made in the claim ‘We charge you less’ and that, without further information, consumers would be unable to establish the circumstances in which easyJet was claiming to be cheaper than other flights for business travel,” the ASA said.