Spirit Airlines Employees Upset Over Sexy Ads, Beer Uniforms

MIAMI — Flight attendants and pilots for Spirit Airlines Inc. want the company to pull a series of sexually suggestive advertisements, along with a new requirement they wear a Bud Light patch on service aprons.

Patricia A. Friend, head of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, complained in a letter to Spirit executives this month. When the airline refused to change the ad campaigns, and the aprons were handed out Monday, the union issued a public statement. Pilots followed suit Wednesday.

"I feel as though I have entered a time warp and am reliving the battles for respect and justice for women that we fought for 40 years ago," Friend said.

Some of Spirit's ads invite customers to enjoy its DD's (deep discounts) and "MILF" (many islands, low fare) specials _ double entendres that also refer to large breasts and a crude acronym popularized in the 1999 movie "American Pie" that describes an attractive mother.

Watch a recent ad uploaded to Spirit's YouTube page:

Spirit spokeswoman Misty Pinson said the union was consulted last year when the carrier began the discussion on selling apron ad space, and it raised no concerns. Pinson said some of the ads in question have been used for more than a year.

"Actually we've had great response from passengers that love the fares we offer through those promotions," Pinson said.

She disputed the flight attendants' characterization that the aprons made them "walking billboards," and called them small and tasteful.

The union argues they undermine flight attendants' federal obligation to cut off drunk or unruly passengers, and are offensive to employees with religious objections to alcohol.

The apron space is available in Spirit's larger push to sell advertising in any plausible format _ including seat-back trays, overhead bins, napkins and cups. Spirit, located in the Miami suburb of Miramar, Fla., describes itself as "ultra low-cost." It does not offer any complimentary snacks, drinks or checked bags.

The company has a history of off-color advertising. In 2006, it was forced to pull a promotion called "The Hunt for Hoffa," playing off the FBI's search for Jimmy Hoffa's remains, after receiving customer complaints.

Other recent campaigns include the "Threesome Sale" and December's "Cheap and Easy and Nothing to Hide" sale.

"These initiatives not only support continued growth of the company, but also help keep secure jobs for our valued employees, at a time when the airline industry continues to cut capacity and jobs," Spirit said in a statement.

Comments

[jukesgrrl]

07:13 PM on 01/30/2009

I thought Hooters Air went out of business?

[JoanneToole]

05:54 PM on 01/30/2009

The comercial was degrading and flight attendents are not billboards. Keep fighting. Low fares are nice especially in this tough economic climate however that does not mean companies should allow the exploitation of its female work force. Sprint needs to find another way to keep its fares from increasing too much. I'm sure they can.

[rachel88]

05:36 PM on 01/30/2009

Well the ad was stupid, and kinda made no sense to me, but I wouldn't call it outageous

[TOOO]

03:47 PM on 01/30/2009

Sigh - I see all the conservatives are out in force doing - what else? - sucking up to the rich and powerful, hoping all that butt-kissing will result in keeping their jobs.

To those people, I laugh. You really think butt-kissing the rich works? Then explain our recession. If you can.

Kudos to the employees of Spirit for standing up to the corporate criminals.

[hairyhuman]

04:49 PM on 01/30/2009

so repubs love rich people and dems hate them? Why is that?

[K-Dog76]

05:40 PM on 01/30/2009

TOOO

Interesting that uptight Republicans are the ones forcing innocent airline attendants to wear Beer ads on their aprons...

get over yourself. The ad agencies that create this scheme were liberal. The low prices Spirit offers its customers are a result of their ability to sell ad space... pro athletes wear endorsements all the time. I didn't assume Michael Jordan was butt-kissing Nike for his $40 million per year.kickbacks....

NEWSFLASH: not everything is the fault of conservatives, not everything is a partisan issue.

[TheCowman]

03:12 PM on 01/30/2009

hahahahaha...that was a great ad!!

Cougar! Cougar!! MRAAAAWRRR!!! (is that the sound they make??)

[indiematrix]

07:07 PM on 01/30/2009

Mmmm me likey some cougar!!! Taste like CHICKEN and smells like teen spirit! lol!

[mjeffn]

02:46 PM on 01/30/2009

LOL That's funny as s-h-i-t !!!

What...are the attendants upset that the adds compete with their gigs on youporn?

just chill ladies - it's funny and ensuring your jobs

[jukesgrrl]

07:15 PM on 01/30/2009

For everyone of you who enjoy this sleeze, there's someone like me who will not use the airline because of it. And don't tell me to chill -- I'll do it when I want to.

[Travis Holder]

02:11 PM on 01/30/2009

These employees should be glad that they have a job; 40,000 jobs were lost on Monday. I pretty sure there is many people out there that would gladly work for this company and not care about the ads. I'm just saying.

[BlueZoo]

02:02 PM on 01/30/2009

Considering the state of the commerical airline industry in this country, I'd suggest you Spirit employees need to get over it and be thankful you even have a job! With hundreds of thousands losing their jobs each week now, your concerns are petty. People are hungry!

[Blueyellow40]

05:26 PM on 01/30/2009

Yes, everyone needs to sacrifice their values in order to keep their job. I think I might start stealing from my boss because maybe she will fire me in the future. Awesome!

[bensisco]

01:34 PM on 01/30/2009

The CEO must have filmed this ad with his camera phone. This looks like a homemade joke instead of a professional commercial.

[motley2]

05:47 PM on 01/30/2009

Yup. The only objectionable part of that ad was the acting.

[Eddy333]

01:17 PM on 01/30/2009

One more road sign on the way down thew toilet for this society.

I guess the only consolation is that half of the passengers probably can't even read the Bud Lite ad patches...

[rigormrtis]

12:29 PM on 01/30/2009

I'd pay $50 more for a flight with a happy ending....

[DorightWoman]

12:22 PM on 01/30/2009

why don't they just offer a small room so passengers can do the "mile high club" thing.... sheesh. I do get tired of corporations trying to sell 24/7 on anything and everything they can. The bottom line question is, when is too much commercialism, too much?

I've flown Icelandic Air, and they advertise to buy things in their catalogs they have on board. Airlines are trying to maximize making money. In today's economic meltdown, it's even more needed for companies to do, to survive.

[LHoney]

12:21 PM on 01/30/2009

I must be really old.... I can still remember class.

[K-Dog76]

05:44 PM on 01/30/2009

they had that back in the 50's didn't they?

[jtmoney]

11:42 AM on 01/30/2009

The only time people have the right to disobey their boss is when they are asked to do something illegal or dangerous. Otherwise, wear the stupid apron or find a new job. There are plenty of people right now that won't object to wearing them.

[Dannydel]

10:45 AM on 01/30/2009

Don't like your job? Now would be the perfect time to quit.
As for corporate logo's, If Halliburton/Cheney had a big logo on the C0130 Hercules transporting all that free money to contractors in Iraq, it would at least have helped defray a bit of the cost. And imagine one of our nuclear subs surfacing off the russian coast, with a huge Walmart logo on the conning tower...the russians wouldn't know whether to shoot or shop.