Luton Airport Express - Misleading Ads?

[Bartsimho]

I also wonder if it's an ORCATS raid on Thameslink's LAP fare receipts?

The calls there for EMR have always existed ar others have said. They might have stepped up the marketing to get more people choosing them though as they are quicker and always have been

 

[Merle Haggard]

I don't think it's misleading to say a service is express as far as its first calling point.

The advert specifically refers to St Pancras to Luton Airport, which as you say is non-stop.

But trains from the North are also described as 'Luton AirPort Express' (it's vinyl-ed onto every coach, so it can't be denied ); isn't that stretching a point a bit for someone travelling from, say, Leicester? Or even Kettering?

 

[BluePenguin]

It has, but only slightly. When it was built, half of Terminal 4 was in Surrey.

In the 1930s when the airport was built, most of the other area was Middlesex

 

[Bletchleyite]

But trains from the North are also described as 'Luton AirPort Express' (it's vinyl-ed onto every coach, so it can't be denied ); isn't that stretching a point a bit for someone travelling from, say, Leicester? Or even Kettering?

Do you have the same issue with seeing Gatwick Express branding at Brighton, between which and Gatwick the train will stop several times?

Or the StanEx, which is really an outersuburban semifast?

This is only an issue to real purists. The rest of us realise that it's a bit of marketing that might just get some people out of cars.

 

[apinnard]

I find this whole thread extremely petty. I think the advertisement is very good indeed.

I’m also in agreement. Plenty worse things to get wound up about.

 

[Merle Haggard]

Do you have the same issue with seeing Gatwick Express branding at Brighton, between which and Gatwick the train will stop several times?

Or the StanEx, which is really an outersuburban semifast?

This is only an issue to real purists. The rest of us realise that it's a bit of marketing that might just get some people out of cars.

I take your point; but it just seems to me a bit odd that, now every journey* from Luton, Bedford or Wellingborough to cities such as Leicester, Nottingham, Sheffield or Leeds starts or ends on a service heavily branded 'Luton Airport Express'; could there not be be some alternative marketing to get people out of their cars for those journeys, too (which may even be more frequent than the annual holiday in the sun)? 'East Midlands Connect' did just that, but it now seems to have been superseded. Indeed, it's possible that a passenger from, say, Bedford to Leicester who is not familiar with how things work might have some hesitation in boarding a train which is heavily branded to suggest it's going in the opposite direction. That's of course just my opinion.

As you say, the same applies elsewhere; but it's possible that an intending London passenger at Brighton might be wary of boarding the 'Gatwick Express' - particularly if they've previously been penalty fared (or worse) for getting on the wrong train...


*Yes, I know there's 1 'EMR Inter City' a day that stops at each of these towns but that's all.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I take your point; but it just seems to me a bit odd that, now every journey* from Luton, Bedford or Wellingborough to cities such as Leicester, Nottingham, Sheffield or Leeds starts or ends on a service heavily branded 'Luton Airport Express'; could there not be be some alternative marketing to get people out of their cars for those journeys, too (which may even be more frequent than the annual holiday in the sun)? 'East Midlands Connect' did just that, but it now seems to have been superseded. Indeed, it's possible that a passenger from, say, Bedford to Leicester who is not familiar with how things work might have some hesitation in boarding a train which is heavily branded to suggest it's going in the opposite direction. That's of course just my opinion.

I think they will be able to read "London" on the front and side displays as well as on the platform displays and work out quite easily where it's going.

 

[DynamicSpirit]

On the first mockups of the "New Tube for London" stock several years ago, the destination blind read "The Future". Is that misleading on the basis that they were not specified with time-travel capability??

No because "The Future" on a destination panel is something that is obviously not intended to be taken literally, whereas "Luton Airport" on a destination panel arguably would be taken literally by most people. Rules 3.1 and 3.2 on the ASA code of conduct for misleading advertising make the distinction clear: (Link)

3.1 Marketing communications must not materially mislead or be likely to do so.
3.2 Obvious exaggerations ("puffery") and claims that the average consumer who sees the marketing communication is unlikely to take literally are allowed provided they do not materially mislead.

FWI I do agree that as misleading advertising goes, this is very much at the minor, unimportant, end of the scale, but I still do see the picture on the ad with the train destination as misleading, and something that EMR should've taken more care over.

 

[dk1]

I’m also in agreement. Plenty worse things to get wound up about.

You have to laugh.

 

[Mojo]

Hmmm debatable these days as the Greater London boundary has extended much too far. Heathrow is only just inside M25

It is not debatable whatsoever. Heathrow Airport is in the London Borough of Hillingdon and has been since 1965 when the airport was called “London Airport.”

 

[nw1]

The term 'express' is misleading, as they are a slow/semi fast service, not the express advertised.

Is it non-stop to Luton Airport Parkway though? In which case it's express to the airport, even if it's semi-fast beyond there. The issue to my mind is more the sidelining, perhaps, of passengers to beyond the airport. It's not a dedicated airport shuttle, it's a semi-fast commuter service to Bedford, Corby et al, which happens to call at the airport.

Do you have the same issue with seeing Gatwick Express branding at Brighton, between which and Gatwick the train will stop several times?

Though to be fair that is just down to the current arrangements and the messy hodge-podge* that the Brighton line has become since 2018.

Classically, for more than 30 years, Gatwick Express always was a Gatwick shuttle (albeit an expensive one, and one which IMO would have been much more useful had it been priced regularly and stopped at Clapham Junction).

(*sorry, much preferred the old pattern, far neater, see the "irrational opinions..." thread.)

 

[Bletchleyite]

Classically, for more than 30 years, Gatwick Express always was a Gatwick shuttle (albeit an expensive one, and one which IMO would have been much more useful had it been priced regularly and stopped at Clapham Junction).

If it stopped at Clapham Jn then it'd be less of an express than the Luton Airport Express, though?

 

[BluePenguin]

It is not debatable whatsoever. Heathrow Airport is in the London Borough of Hillingdon and has been since 1965 when the airport was called “London Airport.”

What is also not debatable is that the area was formally Middlesex until 1965, as you should aware. The airport was built long before Middlesex was encompassed by Greater London.

To date if you look at Heathrow‘s website their addresses is still Hounslow, Middlesex.

 

[Haywain]

The term 'express' is misleading, as they are a slow/semi fast service, not the express advertised.

Express suggests the fastest available service, which it is. And it's a damn sight faster than Gatwick Express or Stansted Express services. Where on earth you get the idea that it's a slow or semi-fast service I don't know.

 

[nw1]

If it stopped at Clapham Jn then it'd be less of an express than the Luton Airport Express, though?

True, but arguably still an express, relatively speaking given it would miss, what, about 20 stations and just stop at one. Including the rare feature of running non-stop through East Croydon.

 

[BluePenguin]

Express suggests the fastest available service, which it is. And it's a damn sight faster than Gatwick Express or Stansted Express services. Where on earth you get the idea that it's a slow or semi-fast service I don't know.

Because after Luton it continues to Corby as a semi fast service

 

[jon81uk]

Because after Luton it continues to Corby as a semi fast service

That still means it is express to the airport!

 

[BluePenguin]

That still means it is express to the airport!

Yes it does

 

[renegademaster]

Why on earth would someone who wants to get to Luton quickly care about what stops it goes to after?

 

[Haywain]

Because after Luton it continues to Corby as a semi fast service

The only station it serves that has a faster service is Kettering.

 

[BluePenguin]

Why on earth would someone who wants to get to Luton quickly care about what stops it goes to after?

Who? Apparently the person who created this thread does for example. They are not happy that the train does not terminate at Luton Airport as per the photo but continues onwards to Corby

 

[Djgr]

Who? Apparently the person who created this thread does for example. They are not happy that the train does not terminate at Luton Airport as per the photo but continues onwards to Corby

No. They are unhappy that it doesn't actually call at a station called Luton Airport. Indeed, there is no such station.

 

[nlogax]

To date if you look at Heathrow‘s website their addresses is still Hounslow, Middlesex.

It's a postal anachronism. Middlesex is a ghost county that hasn't existed in nearly sixty years. Heathrow is in London, simple as that.

 

[Sunil_P]

In fact, so-called "postal counties" haven't been officially used by the Royal Mail since 1996...

 

[BluePenguin]

It's a postal anachronism. Middlesex is a ghost county that hasn't existed in nearly sixty years. Heathrow is in London, simple as that.

In fact, so-called "postal counties" haven't been officially used by the Royal Mail since 1996...

This is true, although it has not stopped us still writing postal towns on letters today as opposed to simply a door number and post code

 

[Mag_seven]

OK can we ditch the discussion about Heathrow Airport and Middlesex post codes etc. This thread is about EMT and their Luton Airport alleged "misleading" advertising campaign.

 

[BluePenguin]

I can understand how it is slightly misleading to depict a photo of an EMR train that displays Luton Airport on its departure board. However, this style of advertising is very common these days.

For example, inside the terminal there are similar Thameslink adverts, with the tagline that "London is only a Thameslink away". This was very misleading as London at the time - the same as today - was not only a Thameslnk away, but a bus too. Does the DART now make this advert less bad? The jury is out on that one

There were also airport parking adverts with photo of a car next to a plane wheel with the caption "you can't park closer"

In conclusion, some small print never goes amiss for those who need absolute clarity on the product being advertised. On a serious note, for foreign people it is not obvious how to reach the city centre when landing in a new country for the first time. You could argue people should look this up ahead of time, but many people don't research very deeply, making do with a quick search of whether there is a train or not.

 

[LCC106]

The station is called “Luton Airport Parkway”. The automatic announcement states that “This is the Luton Airport Express service (for Luton Airport Parkway?) calling at Luton Airport Parkway, Luton, Bedford, Wellingborough, Kettering and Corby. Our next station stop will be Luton Airport Parkway” or pretty similar. I haven’t read all 4 pages of the discussion - poor internet connection- but surely this isn’t misleading. The destination blinds are set for Corby or London St Pancras. Although I see it’s the destination on the advert that people are complaining about. Surely when you book a ticket it’s clear that it’s to the parkway station and change for dart services?

 

[alistairlees]

I can understand how it is slightly misleading to depict a photo of an EMR train that displays Luton Airport on its departure board. However, this style of advertising is very common these days.

For example, inside the terminal there are similar Thameslink adverts, with the tagline that "London is only a Thameslink away". This was very misleading as London at the time - the same as today - was not only a Thameslnk away, but a bus too. Does the DART now make this advert less bad? The jury is out on that one

There were also airport parking adverts with photo of a car next to a plane wheel with the caption "you can't park closer"

In conclusion, some small print never goes amiss for those who need absolute clarity on the product being advertised. On a serious note, for foreign people it is not obvious how to reach the city centre when landing in a new country for the first time. You could argue people should look this up ahead of time, but many people don't research very deeply, making do with a quick search of whether there is a train or not.

If I remember correctly, there was a ruling (by the ASA?) many years ago that, if an advert said / depicted something that was obviously untrue, then it was ok; the ruling concerned the "Heineken refreshes the parts that other beers cannot reach". Quite obviously, this is not true, so it was allowed to stand. The same would go for an image of a car parked next to an aeroplane, advertising car parking and with the slogan "you can't park closer"; obviously that's not true. But an advert stating that "London is only a Thameslink away" (from Luton Airport) is not obviously untrue, so it would need to be true. I think that one would fall foul, if challenged. The Luton Airport Express EMR advert is not really in breach of anything though.

 

[nw1]

If I remember correctly, there was a ruling (by the ASA?) many years ago that, if an advert said / depicted something that was obviously untrue, then it was ok; the ruling concerned the "Heineken refreshes the parts that other beers cannot reach". Quite obviously, this is not true, so it was allowed to stand. The same would go for an image of a car parked next to an aeroplane, advertising car parking and with the slogan "you can't park closer"; obviously that's not true. But an advert stating that "London is only a Thameslink away" (from Luton Airport) is not obviously untrue, so it would need to be true. I think that one would fall foul, if challenged. The Luton Airport Express EMR advert is not really in breach of anything though.

Except it implies to me that "a Thameslink" in this context means a short hop. It does not imply to me that Thameslink is the only service.

In practice I'd guess more people use Thameslink than EMT because it's more frequent. It's only one stop (St Albans) isn't it?