Some laughed, others winced, when, on the eve of the U.S. Presidential Election, Royal Jordanian Airlines launched an advertising campaign on social media with a #USElections hashtag and a tagline referencing candidate Donald Trump’s early proposal to ban Muslims from entering the United States.
“Just in case he wins...Travel to the US while you're still allowed to!”
The ad went viral. But now that Trump is the President-elect, using the election to boost sales isn’t so funny.
Or is it?
Before Election Day, Irish low-cost airline Ryanair was referencing themes from the campaign trail in its ads.
And on Wednesday, the carrier was still at it, with an extension of its “No One Trumps Ryanair Fares!” featuring an image of a puckered-up Trump.
Cheeky Ryanair also referenced the election outcome (and the Cubs’ recent World Series win) in a “No, you’re not dreaming” tweet.
The airline’s post #USElection social media ad campaign also made use of the President-elect’s hair:
Not to be outdone, Spirit Airlines rolled out a quick “Go North” fare sale, urging customers to get out of the country by buying tickets to Plattsburgh or Niagara Falls, NY and then driving into Canada from there.
But no word — yet — from Air Canada on whether it’s going to refresh the “Test Drive Canada” campaign it rolled out last June that commented on how many people were searching “How can I move to Canada” online.
The ad foreshadowed real-life: on Election Night so many people were trying to access the Canadian government’s immigration website that it got overloaded and shut down.
Ultimately, this is perhaps how the skies would look if every disaffected voter were to buy a ticket: