Turning Criticism into Content: Ryanair’s Unlikely Rise to Social Stardom

Let’s be honest, if someone said five years ago that Ryanair would become one of the most entertaining and talked-about brands on social media, you’d have laughed. Loudly.

This is an airline more commonly associated with £19.99 fares, relentless baggage charges, cramped cabins, and the kind of customer service that makes you question all your life choices.

And yet, here we are in 2025 and Ryanair is absolutely flying on social.

Not because they reinvented their product or made any attempts at all to improve their service. But because they leaned all the way into their reputation – unapologetically, wildly self-aware and genuinely funny.

So how did Europe’s “worst airline” become a viral icon?

Well, they’re using public criticism as content. While most brands try to gloss over their rough edges, ignore their critics and invest in reputation management Ryanair have turned their flaws into entertainment: self-deprecating, brazen, quick, on-trend, and even a little unhinged. The message is clear: Yes, we’re budget… and we’re not pretending otherwise.

So, what have they been doing?

Across TikTok, X and Instagram, Ryanair has carved out a voice that’s witty, cheeky, and completely in tune with internet culture.

• Roasting Customers
  Their infamous “What Did You Expect?” replies flip complaints into viral content. Where most brands would run from criticism, Ryanair pokes fun at it.
• Trendjacking at Speed
  Their team reportedly works with a five-minute rule: see a trend, huddle, agree the Ryanair take on it, post. No lengthy internal sign-off processes or red tape, they’re brave, they’re agile and they GET social.
• Creating Characters
  The TikTok eyes filter over a grainy picture of a Ryanair plane sounds ridiculous, but it’s become an instantly recognisable, satirical, brand character. It’s the perfect demonstration that content doesn’t always need to be laboured over, polished and perfected. It’s lo-fi, its cheap and of course, it’s funny.
• Cultural Relevance
  They insert themselves into the conversation when they have something relevant to say. When the infamous kiss-cam exposure of a couple’s affair at Coldplay concert went viral, Ryanair responded: “We love splitting people up too”. Too often brands try to become part of the conversation for the sake of being but Ryanair’s approach is honed – they add to the conversation with sharp, cheeky responses only when it fits with their brand voice to do so.
• Building Series & Content IP
  Ryanair have honed regularity and reactivity through their consistency. Now audiences look out for their formats like “Ryanair Core” or their ‘What did you expect for 19.99’ series. These give fans something to expect and engage with and importantly, everything is produced as entertainment-first, there is no concern for the sell.

So why is this working?

Well. it isn’t just about humour. It’s about marketing strategy done right:

• Authenticity – They own their flaws rather than hiding them.
• It’s cheap – No glossy campaigns or slick film shoots, just a few quick-witted social managers and some TikTok filters and they’re off…
• Platform-first thinking – TikTok humour, X sarcasm, Instagram memes. Ryanair truly gets their audience on each channel and adapts content perfectly for them.
• Engagement – Audiences aren’t just watching; they’re tagging, reposting, and playing along.
• Earned media – and most importantly, audiences are loving it, talking about it and reposting it. Everyone is in on the joke and along for the ride.

So, whilst this is all great entertainment and certainly exciting to watch we have to ask, where does the brand take it from her? Their strategy seemingly is only headed in one direction – to become more and more controversial – each post becoming more extreme than the last. Some posts have garnered negative attention with audiences accusing them of taking the joke too far.

Will this format become stale as it increasingly plays in to the toxic online world of rage baiting? And ultimately, will audience fatigue of the jokes and actually just want a better service offering?

Ultimately, Ryanair’s social media approach is proof that sometimes the best brand strategy isn’t about being better, it’s about being more self-aware.

They’ve turned trolling into entertainment, criticism into content, and baggage fees into punchlines. In a world of polished corporate messaging, their unfiltered voice cuts through the noise.

And whether you love them or loathe them, one thing’s certain: if the “worst airline in Europe” can become one of the most engaging brands online, what’s stopping the rest of us?