Firefly says sorry for sexist ads

Chief executive officer Ignatius Ong said the increase in operational costs on the back of a softer ringgit had hit the group badly.

PETALING JAYA: Firefly Airlines has apologised for its recent sexist advertisements that featured women's buttocks.

"We at Firefly have no intention to be sexist in how we conduct our business and we have the utmost respect for everyone," the airline said in a statement on Monday.

"We regret that our recent advertisement visuals caused discomfort in certain quarters and for that, we apologise," said Firefly.

Firefly, a subsidiary of Malaysia Airlines, had placed two advertisements on its Facebook page on March 7 and March 11 that featured the buttocks of women in pencil skirts.

The first advertisement showed a woman in an orange pencil skirt and heels, standing next to a bench with the words "50% off" on the seat with the warning "Caution wet paint".

The woman's skirt had the "50% off" imprinted on it, suggesting that she had sat on the freshly painted bench. The advertisement displayed the words: "Firefly sticks to you, 50% off all flights, all destinations".

The second advertisement featured the back of two women in black pencil skirts and black heels, with "50% + 10%" printed on the women's bottoms. Beside the graphic were the words: "Oooppss.. We did it again" and "60% off all base fare".

Firefly has since removed the two advertisements.