Directski is refusing to pull a controversial poster campaign that pokes fun at Geordies, though the company has apologised for causing offence.
Marketing manager Neal Collins said the posters had only gone up in London underground stations on Monday and the company intended to ‘let it run its course’.
The posters feature a quote from Dublin-based directski founder Anthony Collins saying: "I have a dream to make skiing affordable to all – even Geordies."
Neal Collins said: "It would appear that our advertisement in this week’s London press has caused offence to a few people in the northeast of England.
"This was certainly not our intention and we apologise to anyone who took offence to what we thought was quite a humorous ad."
Collins justified the campaign, saying that residents in the northeast were three times less likely to go skiing than those living in London.
"Given that there are plenty of flights from the north of England into all the major ski destinations, we maybe wrongly assumed that there was a connection between the fact that the average income in the northeast is somewhat lower than the average London salary," added Collins.
By Linsey McNeill
