Thomas Cook admits ad cock-up - DecisionMarketing

Thomas Cook has admitted that its latest online campaign promoting a new route from Manchester to Boston features a baseball player from to city’s fiercest rivals, the New York Yankees, instead of Boston’s own Red Sox.
While the ad may have escaped the notice of most UK consumers, who know little about the nuances of the game, one observer said it was akin to someone in Boston promoting a flight to Manchester by using a picture of Steven Gerrard in his Liverpool kit.
The firm insists it is a generic image of a player, although the picture reseacher will no doubt be keeping his head down as Thomas Cook bosses have admitted they will have to eat a little humble pie.
A spokesman told Manchester Evening News: “We’re assured that the baseball player in the ad is in fact a generic player in generic kit – licensing rules restrict the use of images of real players.
“We realise that it appeared to be more of an own goal than a home run on our part and would like to make that right with baseball fans so we don’t strike out before we’ve even started the flight programme.”
Programmatic specialist Infectious Media handles Thomas Cook Airlines online activity, although it is not known whether it devised the creative for this particular campaign.