Holiday firm On The Beach takes to social media to fire back at 'abusive, snobby and fat

Release time：2024-05-21 20:32:35 Source：Cultural Caravan news portal

Holiday firm On The Beach has taken aim at social media users who have shared 'abusive, snobby and fat-shaming' views online.

The package holiday firm said it had seen 'an alarming number of posts' taking aim at the family in its advert and this week posted messages on its social media channels to 'remind users to think before they post'.

The advert, voiced by Paddy McGuinness, promotes On The Beach's free airport lounge access with four and five-star holidays and features a family of four walking through an airport and into a lounge with a swagger, enjoying a meal, then running with delight on to a beach.

However, in response, comments appeared on X such as 'I hate that On The Beach advert showing the porker family having full access to the Lounge and perks… yuk' and 'I'm not sure the On the Beach TV advert claiming a family of slobs are "genius" for getting lounge access really encourages me to travel with them."

On The Beach said some posts 'contain violent or abusive messages'.

Holiday firm On The Beach said it had seen 'an alarming number of posts' taking aim at the family in its advert (above)

Examples the company cited include: 'I hate the fat kid on the On The Beach advert'; and 'I don't condone hitting kids, it's vile, however with all that being said, I've never wanted to beat the cr*p out of someone more than that absolute mess on the on the beach advert. The rage when it comes on.'

Other posts, On The Beach said, are 'snobbish'.

In a statement, it cited this as an example: 'The advert for On The Beach says there is free airport lounge access for their customers. Can you imagine the oil executives sharing their airport lounge with riff-raff holidaymakers?'

X isn't the only site where derogatory comments can be found, On The Beach said.

It pointed out YouTube comments 'with a similar tone', such as: 'So what was once an executive lounge of the slightly more fortunate class is going to be full of Tracey and her 6 kids hoovering every last peanut.' And 'this company is definitely for the council estate family holiday who just want to sit around the pool and eat and drink as much as possible'.

The advert, voiced by Paddy McGuinness , promotes On The Beach's free airport lounge access with four and five-star holidays and features the family of four walking through an airport and into a lounge with a swagger, enjoying a meal, then running with delight on to a beach

On The Beach said in an X post: 'We seen a lot of fattist, snobby comments about our TV ad and the family we've used.

'It's 2024 and some people are still hiding behind keyboards to hurl abuse at a family, including two children?

'This is a polite reminder that everyone has a right to holiday and everyone has a right to airport lounge access.

'Be kind. Don't be a booking idiot online.

'In fact, be a Booking Genius instead: Stick it to the snobs and get free airport lounge access with us. And if they don't like it, they're welcome to a £10 pint in departures.'

The X message is attributed to On the Beach's chief customer officer, Zoe Harris, who also expressed her disappointment at the comments in the statement issued to press.

Comments appeared on X such as 'I hate that On The Beach advert showing the porker family having full access to the Lounge and perks… yuk'

On The Beach responded to the trolls with this X post

She said: 'It's shocking to see some of the snobbish comments posted online about our advert and the family featured within it.

'We're highlighting these concerning comments as we'd just like to remind those that have a derogatory opinion that everyone has a right to holiday, and everyone has a right to lounge access.

'We can't help it if you're not a booking genius and go loungeless this summer.'

On The Beach claims that 'some of the offensive posts have in part been fuelled by snobbish news articles', citing a Daily Telegraph story that stated 'holidaymakers had ruined airport lounges' as one of several examples.

Zoe Harris labelled such articles as 'concerning'.

She added: 'We always do our best to give customers the best deals on the best hotels in the best destinations, but understand that some families in the UK may only be able to afford one holiday this year. That's why we offer free perks such as lounge access, because we want that holiday to be the very best it can be.'

The On the Beach advert has caused some controversy this year with 135 complaints being sent to the ASA (Advertising Standard Authority), with people believing On the Beach ambassador and voiceover of the advert, Paddy McGuinness, was swearing as he said 'booking genius'.

The ASA also received four complaints from watchers who believed the depiction of the family normalised and encouraged rude and greedy behaviour.

After review, the ASA cleared On the Beach and Paddy McGuinness on all possible counts.

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