Brilliant – big mouth strikes again and the media laps it up. This time he’s going to charge us to stand up on the flight and…to use the loos! I’ve written previously here about how this love-to-hate figure is a master manipulator of the press and he’s pulled off another blinder.
Best thing is this “story” is actually quite an old one but it has been re-hashed just in time for ITV’s “How to Beat the Budget Airlines” which airs on Thursday night at 7.30pm . Some observers will claim that this is yet another hidden charge and that people will soon walk away from the airline in protest but not enough people actually do it. He’s managed to get the airline to such a stage of notoriety that his antics and Ryan Air’s budget approach feeds dinner party conversations across the land.
Sure, the majority of the comments will be dark mutterings such as “tacky” and “cheap and nasty” but that is exactly what he wants people to say and remember. Ryan Air is cheap – probably the cheapest, time and time again. We’ll soon have the experts trotting out theories as to why this can’t work from a health and safety perspective but do you think O’Leary actually cares whether he pulls this off or not? No! It is a stunt, like so many others and the media loves it because the general public hates it. They hate it so much that they will devour every line of the story, eager to expose the airline as a cheap and nasty product.
Guess what? Bingo! More free publicity for the airline.
The Press For Attention Prescription
Keep taking the medicine Michael. The man and his PR team have an instinct for this which secures them huge PR with hilarious regularity. Sure, some people don’t like them but that isn’t their brief and they do not care. I wouldn’t wish a crisis on them and I assume they have covered these bases in house for when/if the time comes as that will really test their skills but for now, I’m happy to keep watching the show.
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