TUI ad banned for promoting 'summer holidays' in October

Hugh Morris
Updated
ASA ruled that consumers recognise summer as June, July and August - This content is subject to copyright.
ASA ruled that consumers recognise summer as June, July and August - This content is subject to copyright.

Tui, the UK’s largest tour operator, has been rebuked over a “misleading” television advert that promoted a “perfect summer holiday” that departed only in September and October.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) banned the advert and warned the travel company not to “mislead by claiming to offer summer holidays if those holidays were outside of the period that consumers were likely to consider as summer”.

Tui’s advert, as seen in June this year, showcased Turkey with a voice-over stating: “It’s not too late to discover Turkey with Tui from £279 per person this summer… Perfect summer holidays that put you in the middle.” However, on-screen text noted that departures from selected airports left between September 1 and October 31.

A complaint to ASA said that the departures dates were not during summer.

Tui responded by saying its summer holiday period ran from April to the end of October and that the advert showed both adult-only groups as well as families, while advertising agency Clearcast said that the first two weeks of the offer fell within the astronomical boundaries of summer and that it would have been confusing to spell out that the offer covered autumn, too.

ASA, however, said that viewers would have interpreted the “summer holiday” offer to mean travelling during the months of June, July and August, which include the school holiday period, and that the travel period of September and October was not “likely to align with consumers’ understanding” of a summer holiday. ASA said in its ruling: “The ad must not appear again in its current form.”

A spokesperson for Tui said: “We note the ASA's ruling and can confirm that we've already taken action to amend this advert for future use."

Tui is not the first travel company to fall foul of the Advertising Standards Authority over holiday season perceptions.

In 2011, a Ryanair promotion for spring flights was banned after it used a photo of a model in a bikini. The ASA ruled that the advert was in breach of rules after none of the advertised destinations - Oslo, Glasgow and Lourdes, to name three - would be warm enough to don swimwear at that time of year.