UPDATE 1-Ryanair to make charity gift to placate minister
(Recasts with Ryanair spokesman)
BERLIN, April 24 (Reuters) - Ryanair (RYA.I) said on Thursday it would make a charity donation to settle a dispute with German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck after it used his image in an advertisement without permission.
Steinbrueck had ordered the Irish budget airline to stop using his image and give at least 25,000 euros ($39,390) to a memorial in Berlin at a prison once used by the Stasi, communist East Germany's feared secret police, his spokesman said. Ryanair used a picture of the minister, known for his efforts at paring Germany's budget deficit, in an advert for cut-price tickets.
Peter Sherrard, a spokesman for Ryanair, said the advert had featured "a prominent public figure whose comments were made in the public domain" and it was therefore "a perfectly legitimate comment on a matter of huge public interest".
"However, Ryanair has written to Herr Steinbrueck and at his request has agreed not to run this ad again," he said. "We would be happy to make a reasonable contribution to a charity of Herr Steinbrueck's choice to settle this matter".
It is not the first time Ryanair's adverts have landed the airline in trouble.
Earlier this year, a French court ordered the airline to pay damages to President Nicolas Sarkozy and his wife Carla Bruni for using their picture.
Sarkozy and Bruni had sued Ryanair over an advert featuring a photo of the smiling pair and showing a bubble above Bruni reading: "With Ryanair, my whole family can come to my wedding."
The court awarded symbolic damages of one euro to Sarkozy and 60,000 euros to Bruni, who had been seeking 500,000 euros. The pair's lawyer said she planned to give the money to a charity providing food for the poor.
In January, Britain's Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) ruled that a Ryanair advert showing what appeared to be a skimpily clad schoolgirl and promising "hottest back to school fares" was irresponsible and offensive.
Previous Ryanair adverts have lampooned rivals as well as British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Chief Executive Michael O'Leary once dressed as the Pope to preach a "low-fares sermon", earning him a rebuke from the Vatican. (Reporting by Iain Rogers; Editing by David Holmes/Andrew Hurst)
