Airline not funny, and wrong =97 ASA By Juhel Browne Guardian 11.14.02 Virgin Atlantic Airways has contravened the nation=92s advertising= standards,=20 said the Advertising Standards Authority. In a telephone interview=20 yesterday ASA secretary Peter Popplewell disputed Virgin=92s assertion that= =20 its ad was =93tongue in cheek=94 and meant no harm. =93It is not a laughing= =20 matter,=94 said Popplewell. =93We have a standard here which has been= enforced=20 since 1977 and they (Virgin) have in fact broken the standards.=94 In its=20 press ads which ran on Sunday Virgin used an altered version of the BWIA=20 name with a slogan below which read: =93Better Virgin. It=92s available.=94= =20 Yesterday, in a letter sent to the three daily newspapers which ran the=20 controversial Virgin ads, Popplewell said: =93Ridicule and derision were=20 unacceptable in advertising in Trinidad and Tobago.=94 This is stated in clause 4.9 of the advertising standards. He the ASA has=20 not yet sent a similar letter to Virgin because the airline=92s ad was= placed=20 in Barbados and it took some time for the ASA to find the that agency.=20 However, it may be too late to punish Virgin for that particular ad.=20 Popplewell explained there no legal fines or other reprimands for=20 contravening the advertising standards. The idea behind the ASA and the=20 standards is to prevent the Government from legislating the advertising=20 industry, which is now self-regulated. Popplewell said, a contravening=20 company is normally punished before the ad is published, aired or=20 shown. =93There is an agreement by the media to uphold the standards,=94= said=20 Popplewell. =93If they get the ad and they see that it breaks one of the=20 rules in advertising standards they have agreed that they will not run it.= =94=20 Virgin has promised not to run that particular ad again. The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site: Roj (Roger James) *************************************************** escape email mailto:ejames@escape.ca Trinbago site: http://www.tntisland.com CBC Website http://www.tntisland.com/caribbeanbrassconnection/ The Trinbago Site of the Week: (chgdev) http://www.chagdev.com/ (Chaguaramas Development Authority) courtesy of Roj Trinbago Website & TnT Web Directory Roj's Trinbago Website: http://www.tntisland.com TnT Web Directory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************