Well, I do and I don’t love Ryanair. Whilst I like their cheap, seat sale rates, I sometimes don’t like the level of service and the tacky interiors of the planes. Granted it’s not such a pain in the arse if you’re on a short flight, but if you’re off to somewhere over an hour away it can get a bit shitty. What I DO like is their marketing / PR / cleverness. I’m reading the latest book about Michael O’Leary at the moment, and the man is hilarious. And now, to top everything they’ve already done, Ryanair are entering the world of music.
You know that really, really, really annoying tune they play relentlessly when you’re getting on the plane that tries to sell you scratch cards or sachets of vodka or whatever? They’re turning it into a chart topping hit! I hate to say it but kids love annoyingly repetitive and catchy tunes so I think ‘Mr Superly’ will catch on.
In case you hadn’t heard, Ryanair are ‘Rescuing the Pop Charts‘ with a new character called ‘Mr Superfly‘ who sings along about flying so high – there’s even a music video. Not only is this hilarious because an Airline is launching pop music as a way to drive revenues, it’s even funnier cos I can see Michael O’Leary milking the whole pop music / Richard Branson thing to the very end. Remember Mr. Branson had to sell Virgin Records to keep Virgin Atlantic Airways up and running, and Michael O’Leary loves jibing his competitors whenever possible.
Whats next for Ryanair, one wonders? Well, with €2 billion in the bank and an economic downturn gathering steam, you can be sure they’re ready to buy more cheapo planes and expand further – just as they did right after September 11, 2001. They also already have a newish ‘Money‘ channel on Ryanair.com. Perhaps they’ll start ‘Ryanair Loans’ and start lending that €2 billion to punters at really high rates of interest? I wouldn’t be surprised at all!