Spirit Airlines Pokes Fun at Toronto Mayor Rob Ford's Crack Use

By Susanna Kim November 14, 2013

(Credit: Spirit Airlines)

Not shying away from cheeky marketing campaigns pegged to news headlines, Spirit Airlines is pushing cheap flights to Toronto while poking fun at the city's beleaguered mayor with the line "We're Not Smoking Crack."

In the ad, which also shows a silhouette of a man who appears to be Rob Ford, the company is boasting one-way fares of $29.90 to Niagara Falls Airport, which it calls the "Toronto area."

Toronto's mayor has surprised his city, and become the international brunt of jokes, with revelations about crack use, drug purchases and drunken stupors while ignoring calls to resign.

Spirit Airlines, based in Miramar, Fla., has used a number of newsy marketing tactics, such as capitalizing on the Secret Service prostitution scandal while pushing flights to Colombia.

The airline is known for its cheap fares while collecting revenue from various fees. About 38.5 percent of its total revenue comes from ancillary sources, such as credit card usage fees and $100 carry-on baggage charges, according to the 2013 CarTrawler Yearbook of Ancillary Revenue by the consultants IdeaWorksCompany.