Spirit Airlines has parodied real time current events for some time. This time they have placed Richie Incognito and the Miami Dolphins in their cross hairs.
They published the new “tongue-in-cheek” ad campaign having fun with the Dolphins’ alleged bullying situation with Incognito and his teammate Jonathan Martin.
“Don’t be bullied by high fares!” the advertisement states, citing a savings of $24. “Fly incognito out of Florida and other cities with this deal!!”
The ad, as you can see below, includes a photo of a business man wearing a helmet in Dolphins’ colors.
Personally I think the whole bullying scandal is a friggin joke regarding what goes on in the locker room of a football team. I’ve been in those locker rooms and I’ve received it and dished it out many times. The ritual is what it is.
There are some who are going to be offended by this. But seriously. Have you ever flown on Spirit Airlines? I made that mistake once. That’s all I needed to stay clear of that airline. To get me to fly on that airline I probably would have to fly incognito. I wouldn’t want anyone to see me on that embarrassment of an airline.
However, as a marketing campaign, we have to look at it for what it is. It’s a cheap shot by a cheap airline that got a ton of press and notoriety without spending a dime.
So despite it’s lameness, we’d have to call it a success. Think about it. Spirit’s clientele could give a rat’s patootie about Richie Cognito or the Miami Dolphins. If you’re flying on Spirit there’s only one reason that you would subject yourself to that “experience”.
The reason you fly Spirit is the same reason you buy generic catsup instead of Heinz Ketchup. It’s cheap. So forget being offended.
Hats off to Spirit for putting out an ad that’s as offensive as it’s service…but at least they scored with their target audience.
You Have to give them credit for that.
Here’s a taste of the reaction on the social media networks:
