Thomson’s ‘lady in pink’ causes controversy
A holidaymaker accused Thomson of breaching advertising codes because she believed the operator had featured her in an advert for its new Dreamliner aircraft without her permission.
The ad featured a number of vintage home video images of people travelling on holiday, including one of a woman in a pink top walking down steps from a plane.
The complainant told advertising watchdogs that she was that woman, but that Thomson had not asked her permission to feature her in the advert.
However, the Advertising Standards Authority said Thomson had successful proved that it was a case of mistaken identity.
They said they had contacted the source of the vintage footage, Media Archive for Central England (MACE) from whom it was licensed, and they had confirmed that the challenged footage was of a different woman.
The footage had been shot by the featured woman’s husband in a home video in 1966 when the couple flew from Britain to Luxemburg and he had deposited it with MACE. His wife had signed a declaration stating she was the copyright holder and gave permission for the footage to be used in the Thomson ad.
Thomson said it had received several pieces of correspondence from other individuals claiming to know or actually be the woman in pink.
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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