Singapore Airlines' iconic Singapore Girl first appeared in 1972 wearing the "sarong kabaya" uniform, inspired by traditional attire found across much of Southeast Asia.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Many Asian airlines base their brand image on young, attractive flight attendants
- The jury is still out on whether sex appeal actually sells more seats
- In China, some flight attendant hopefuls learn kung-fu to face "stressful situations"
- "It is kosher in Asia to push youth and beauty," says one airline CEO
-- Images of bikini-clad women in Thailand posing suggestively in an online ad for a local airline inflamed passions -- both positive and negative -- earlier this year.
Domestic low-cost carrier Nok Air stood at the center of the frenzy. The airline had employed the provocatively clothed women to attract more attention in a Facebook publicity move.
It worked.
"I kind of expected it to be fairly controversial, but at the end of the day more people ended up liking it than hating it," says Patee Sarasin, Nok Air's chief executive officer.
Thailand-based low-cost carrier Nok Air's controversial calendar.
"When it debuted on Facebook, we had over 200,000 likes. I'm happy."
The campaign proved to be a social media success -- it also brought into focus the different ways international airlines use the attractiveness of cabin crews to brand and market their product.
Though acknowledging that "beautiful does not equate to being a good flight attendant," Ji Yang Xiong, director of China's Foreign Airlines Service Corporation, notes a difference in aesthetics when comparing airlines from the East and West.
No comments:
Post a Comment