Naples’ trash, RyanAir’s treasure

[unhappycamper]

Naples’ trash, RyanAir’s treasure
Stars and Stripes
European edition, Friday, February 8, 2008

Budget airline RyanAir is trying to capitalize on Naples’ trash woes by using the crisis to advertise cheap flights.

Its latest ad features a bright yellow box with a photograph of one of the countless mountains of trash strewn throughout the city. It tells customers to pay taxes on free flights, rather than paying taxes for trash collection — which they are not receiving.

The Naples ads have apparently upset city officials, prompting reactions in several news reports. “The only rubbish to be escaped from is RyanAir’s advertising,” Marco di Lello, head of tourism for the Campania region, said in an interview with Italian news agency ANSA.

But RyanAir spokesman Peter Sherrard, speaking via phone from Dublin, said the airline has done more for tourism in the Campania region than many other airlines, and that the ad just reflects a serious situation that needs to be addressed.

“It’s not presenting an image of Naples abroad, it’s presenting the reality of what many people are having to put up with in Naples, and to Italians, dealing with a subject that is controversial and certainly needs to be sorted out,” Sherrard said.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=52302