A cheeky ad sporting a Jet Airways logo and taking aim at Indigo after a video of Indigo's staff manhandling a passenger emerged on Tuesday, has not been created by Jet Airways, a spokesperson for the airline told BOOM.
A spokesperson for Jet Airways confirmed to BOOM, the airline had nothing to do with the ad.
In the afternoon, the airline tweeted a statement distancing itself from the ad and said it was in bad taste.
Jet Airways Statement:
Jet Airways did not commission the creative being shared on social media platforms, in context of a recent event concerning another domestic airline.
The creative does not reflect our philosophy and ethos and is in fact, in bad taste.
The online ad which says 'we beat our competition, not you' has created waves on Twitter with many journalists and prominent Indian businessmen sharing the ad on the micro-blogging site and applauding the airline to take a swipe at its biggest rival.
The ad is the brainchild of an advertising firm called Mad Over Marketing (M.O.M)
Sunil Alagh, former managing director and CEO of Britannia Industries and founder of SKA Advisors shared the graphic with M.O.M's logo visible on the ad.
Great ad @jetairways pic.twitter.com/ZjUDYSLpgp
— Sunil Alagh (@sunilalagh) November 8, 2017
The ad/joke in itself is not unique and is a copy of another parody ad for US-based Southwest Airlines created by the Internet in April this year. Read fact-checking website Snopes' story on the same (Did Southwest Airlines Change Their Slogan After United Airlines Controversy?)
The graphic was created as a joke by the Internet after a video showed a passenger being forcefully removed from an overbooked United flight. The video caused outrage globally.
IndiGo is battling a public relations nightmare after one of its staff shot a video where two IndiGo staff members can be seen pinning down a passenger to the ground after an altercation erupted.
#WATCH: IndiGo staff manhandle a passenger at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport (Note: Strong language) pic.twitter.com/v2ola0YzqC
— ANI (@ANI) November 7, 2017
India's largest airline by passengers said it condemned the actions of its staff and apologised for their behaviour.
We condemn the actions of our staff & have taken stern action. We truly apologize for this. Such behavior is unacceptable - @AdityaGhosh6E pic.twitter.com/lGNT8An7rQ
— IndiGo (@IndiGo6E) November 7, 2017