EADS has been stopped from running an advertisement picturing the Airbus A330 tanker which uses the slogan "I am British", because it implies the company is UK-owned.
The UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) watchdog says the advert - part of EADS's long-running "I am EADS" campaign - breaches clauses on truthfulness and substantiation in its rules.
EADS's major shareholders are German group DaimlerChrysler, French media conglomerate Lagardère and the French and Spanish states. Around a third of its shares are publicly traded.
The ASA says the advert promotes EADS as a company as well as the actual aircraft. "The headline, text, strapline and footnotes all referred to EADS rather than the aircraft ... We asked EADS UK to avoid implying in future ads that EADS was British."
EADS denies it used the advertisement to claim it was a British company, but wanted to stress the large proportion of the the aircraft's components that were built in the UK, including the engines and wings. "We are not going use the ad again, says EADS. "But we're not apologising to anybody for saying this is a British aeroplane."
EADS is part of the AirTanker consortium, which is negotiating with the UK Ministry of Defence to supply A330 tankers for the £13 billion ($23 billion) Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft programme.
EADS has for several years made great play of the fact that it is a "British" company. It has an office in London and a country chief executive and calls the UK its "fourth home country" after France, Germany and Spain. All Airbus wings (EADS is an 80% shareholder in the airframer) are built in the UK and large parts of the company's space and defence businesses are based in the country. It says it regards its "Britishness" as a key advantage in bidding for MoD and other government contracts.
MURDO MORRISON / LONDON
Blog:
Read Flight International editor Murdo Morrison's view on the irony of EADS failing to convince the UK establishment of its Britishness despite many years of trying to establish its pan-European credentials
External link:
Read the UK Advertising Standards Authority ruling on the EADS "I Am British" advertisement
Source: Flight International
