British Airways is in hot water for wishing the English rugby team good luck against Wales. Should flag carrier British Airways be renamed English Airways?
British Airways Supports English Rugby Team…At Expense of Wales
BA is an official sponsor of the English rugby team. Thus, wishing the English team well ahead of a match may have seemed innocuous enough. But the British in British Airways means England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland…BA is supposed to be the flag carrier of the entire United Kingdom. BA’s well wishes came at the expense of Wales.
British Airways wishing England luck against Wales in the rugby today is better than any other advert I’ve seen for Welsh independence.
Cheers lads. pic.twitter.com/f7ssmazhmS
— Gav Murphy (@cymrogav) November 28, 2020
Vaughan Gething, the Welsh Health Minister, tweeted: “Good way to annoy 3m+ potential customers.”
Good way to annoy 3m+ potential customers @British_Airways https://t.co/l8lv4DDYCg
— Vaughan Gething MS (@vaughangething) November 28, 2020
British Airways deleted the tweet and issued the following apology:
“We are proud sponsors of England Rugby but on this occasion we unintentionally strayed offside, for which we are sorry.”
But the damage has already been done. It did not help that England ended up beating Wales 24-13.
CONCLUSION
I’m not proud to admit it, but the first I learned of the Welsh independence movement was via Season 3 of The Crown. But it prompted further research then and I can certainly understand why the move by British Airways angered many in Wales. Even if the Welsh gain independence one day, they will still be British (as part of the island of Great Britain), just no longer part of the UK. Even so, British Airways’ cultural faux pax demonstrated the sort of disregard for Wales its citizens have cited for decades as a reason for seeking independence. BA should likely stick to flying and avoid wading into sport…
image: British Airways
My question is how do British women manage to be so curvy without being fat.
Without being fat?
https://www.statista.com/statistics/333870/obesity-prevalence-by-gender-in-england-uk/
In this OECD report, the UK trails only the US in obesity. South Korea is only 4% obese. South Korea has fared much better in the pandemic than fat Western countries. Do you think the obesity disparity is just a coincidence?
https://www.oecd.org/els/health-systems/obesityandtheeconomicsofpreventionfitnotfat-unitedkingdomenglandkeyfacts.htm
https://www.oecd.org/els/health-systems/obesityandtheeconomicsofpreventionfitnotfat-koreakeyfacts.htm
Do US airlines cheer on the sports teams they sponsor against other teams in the leagues?
It should be renamed London Airways.
If the guy behind her was looking straight ahead the pic would probably appear in The Sun newspaper.
At least BA didn’t say the Welsh should be sent to Room 101. #obscurereference
The fact that someone thought of writing such a post and someone else undoubtedly approved it tells me that there’s a lot of parochialism going on in BA’s London offices. Which is bad form for a supposedly national airline.
If I were Welsh, I’d be pissed too.
Are England and the UK not the same thing?
@John
England is one of the four nations that make up the UK. All English are British but not all British are English. They could be Welsh, Scottish or Northern Irish.
Actually the UK refers to all of the collective including Northern Ireland.
The island of Britain, or Great Britain as it is otherwise called does not include Northern Ireland.
@John @Jamieo
As the most populous and politically/culturally dominant constituent country of the UK, it’s not uncommon for the entire nation state to be referred to as “England” in casual conversation or foreign languages.
“Britain” is also frequently used, though that’s technically also incorrect. Everyone always seems to forget Northern Ireland, which I personally think can be more British than the British at times.
Wales will become more, if not totally, independent once the status of Scotland is resolved, although I’d prefer them to stick together in a federal system.
Rugby has huge importance in Wales; a perceived insult of this nature is unwise and insensitive.
Maybe it was intended to be best wishes regarding whales – the mammals, like when our president confused the two last year in announcing his friendship with the Price of Whales.
Yes indeed, one half expected him to send best wishes to the new king of Tieland ( or Grease or Sweeten or Hungry…)