Last week the budget airline Easyjet sparked controversy, when they launched an advertising campaign with the slogan “This year end up in Malaga, not Margate”. Outraged locals from the Kent town started a campaign on social networking sites demanding that the low cost airline drop the advert which they considered insulting to their town. Local councillor Will Scobie feared that the campaign could harm Margate’s image saying “Margate is a fantastic town for people to visit. We’ve just been named as one of the top 10 places in the world to visit; we’ve got exciting local shops that you can’t find anywhere else, the new Turner Contemporary art gallery and an air show this summer.”
And if you were wondering, Margate has indeed been named as one of the top 10 places in the world to visit, being in seventh place in Rough Guide’s ‘must see’ destinations for 2013. The travel guide say that the town offers more than just ‘golden sands’ and ‘dilapidated seaside charm’, saying it is packed with ‘cute cafes’ and home to the £17.5m Turner gallery. A spokesman for the company said “The gem on the Isle of Thanet constitutes one of the highlights of the forthcoming Rough Guide to Kent, Sussex and Surrey for many good reasons.”
This prompted one person to comment on the Travel Weekly website:
“Did I seriously read that Margate is one of the top 10 places to visit in the world? I can see the list now, The Great Wall Of China, The Pyramids, The Great Barrier Reef, Chichen Itza, Machu Picchu, The Maldives, Ayers Rock, Puerto Iguazu, The Niagra Falls and Margate!!
Oh well looks like Rio de Janeiro, Paris, Rome, Dubai, Bankok, Bali, Moscow, Iceland, The Norwegian Fjords, Kenya, The Taj Mahal and other such places will now be off the cards……”
Easyjet subsequently bowed to the pressure and dropped the campaign, apologising for any offence caused.
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