Virgin Blue chief Brett Godfrey chops “chuck a sickie†ad in 29 minutes
The Herald Sun and other media over the weekend reported that Virgin Blue has been left red-faced after being forced to scrap an advertising campaign that urged people to “chuck sickies” to take holidays.
The controversial online “chuck-a-sickie sale” campaign urged frequent flyers to take time off work and take advantage of “top sale fares”, but Virgin Blue chief Brett Godfrey axed the campaign 29 minutes after he saw it and employer advocates slammed the ad, saying it could increase absenteeism.
Current figures reveal sick leave costs employers $7 billion a year and that about a quarter of cases were not related to illness, with figures having risen 25 per cent since 2000 and 85 per cent of organisations have reported a significant increase.
Most employees are reported to take nine sick days a year, costing their employers an average $2,000 a year in such leave.
Victorian Employers Chamber of Commerce and Industry head of workplace relations David Gregory said the budget airline could have approached the campaign more sensibly.
“Employers are not going to be overly excited about someone who is out there promoting the idea of taking sickies,” he said.
“Absenteeism is enough of a problem already for some without it being actively promoted as a good idea.”
Virgin Blue spokeswoman Heather Jeffrey said the airline’s boss axed the campaign.
“It wasn’t some form of provocative advertising,” she said.
“It was simply a debatable advertising slogan that slipped through the cracks.â€
“Our boss, CEO Brett Godfrey, didn’t see the humour in it.â€
“He saw it online and let’s just say 29 minutes later it was gone.”
A Report by The Mole from The Herald Sun and other media
John Alwyn-Jones
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