Botched car marketing: Disabled bays switched for 'Lexus Only' parking

Montreal -  A Canadian airport has reportedly removed five parking spaces reserved for disabled drivers and sold the bays to Lexus as part of the automaker's marketing plan.

The airport reversed its decision following a complaint from a family who used the disabled bays, reports CBC Calgary. 

Lexus Canada reportedly has nothing to do with the controversial bay switch.

CBC reported that the airport sold the prime bays to the automaker for the exclusive use of the automaker's customers. 

Read the original story here.

Lexus says it was unaware that the bays were reserved for disabled travelers.

Lexus Canada told CBC Calgary on Monday that it was unaware the marketing campaign would involve the removal of bays reserved for motorists and/or travellers affected by disability. 

The automaker posted an apology on Facebook: "Lexus Canada would like to offer our heartfelt apologies to anyone who may have been affected or offended by a recent marketing campaign at the Calgary airport. 

"We were not aware that accessible parking spaces would be used for this campaign, and have asked the airport to correct the situation as quickly as possible by returning these parking spaces to their intended use.

"In the future, we will more carefully scrutinize the details of these types of marketing campaigns. We were truly embarrassed by this mistake. It shouldn't have happened and we are taking steps to make sure that it doesn't happen again."

Calgary Airport admitted fault for the incident and said in a release that it would re-instate the disabled parking bays and that the additional bays which were added for the Lexus campaign would remain in place. 

The airport's statement said: "YYC Calgary International Airport would like to apologize to our passengers impacted by the decision to change the location of the accessible parking stalls at the airport; it is clearly out of touch with our commitment to being an accessible facility.

" Accessibility is important to us and we hope to make it up to our passengers by reviewing our accessibility policies and processes to ensure that as we move forward as an airport, we don't lose sight of its importance to our travelling public and their families visiting YYC."

The airport also apologised to the Lexus Canada for the incident and claimed the automaker was not at fault for the decisions made by the airport.

Read the original story here.