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EVA Air Launches Hello Kitty Jet; Fails To Explode Into Ball of Kitsch on Take-off

I love planes, me. They're great. Flying too, no problem, love it. However. I think even I might balk at having to get on one of these: Taiwan's EVA Air Launches Hallo Kitty-themed Airbus 330. If one of those fleabag Kitty-besuited cabin crew came anywhere near me, I'd lamp them, I swear, such is my hatred of the Mouthless One. Air rage charges and sobbing children be damned.

Pokemon-themed jets, however, are a completely different matter. We actually flew on one of the ANA Pokemon jets on a trip up to Hokkaido earlier this year, and it was in fact rather cool. They were handing out goodie bags and postcards to all the kids on board; although not exactly children ourselves, we managed to blag a couple of the hagaki by playing the we-gaijin-love-your-crazy-japanese-pop-culture card. You can see a scan of one of the postcards here.

So, just to clarify: Hello Kitty bad, Pokemon good. If you have to ask why, you don't deserve to be told.

[Link via Boing Boing]

Posted by chris at October 27, 2005 08:58 PM | Permalink


Comments

We did the Pokemon plane once and yup, it was cool.

But where do you stand on Miffy? (by that I don't mean on which bit of him/it do you plant your size 14's, rather is he/it in the good or bad camp?)

Posted by: tokyobogue at October 27, 2005 11:20 PM


Hello kitty = goooood!

Posted by: Peta at October 28, 2005 06:58 PM


Hmmm. Why can't we get western icons to have themed planes?

I'm thinking of a Morrissey themed 747 with gladiola in every seat and the outside patchily covered with cheap blackboard paint, in the manner of the teenage bedrooms of my youth. The stewards would all be lanky awkward teenage boys who would be unable to even speak to any of the female passengers before shutting themselves in the crew cabin for a good cry at the senseless insensitive world.

Then again the only people that could afford it would be the Paris Hiltons of the world and she'd insist on pink planes with diamante gems for every instrument switch in the cockpit. The suicide rate amongst pilots and ground crew would soar at having to wear pink velour jumpsuits with matching hairbands.

Or maybe I've though too much about this.

(My favourite Paris Hilton snippet? Trying to interview her is '...like talking to an empty chair')

Posted by: Rob at October 28, 2005 07:48 PM


Miffy... much more acceptable than Hello Kitty, that's for sure.

Miffy's Dutch, and created and drawn by a genuine Dutchman, which is far cooler and more authentic and less nakedly calculating than having a Japanese character goods company market a supposedly English Hello Kitty to sell more dolls to Anglophile Japanese schoolgirls. Plus she came first - 1955 to Kitty's 1974.

(PS: For those of you who didn't realise it, Hello Kitty's surname is White, and she was born in suburban London. I like to think she's a chav from Pinner, but I may be alone on that one.)

(PPS: I bet bloody Paris Hilton bloody adores bloody Hello Kitty.)

Posted by: chris at October 29, 2005 02:08 AM


Who said the Eva Air Cabin Crew are fleabags? I think you should think twice before you speak. Can't even speak proper english. This person seriously has a problem with children and need anger management. Remember they will out number you before you even get a chance to lamp them!

Posted by: evaair_scout at November 26, 2005 04:50 PM


Well, I certainly didn't mean to imply that all Eva Air flight attendants were fleabags. That's more my reaction to the idea of someone in a Hello Kitty mascot suit. Perhaps you didn't hear about the Disney employees who were fed up with catching "pubic lice [and] scabies" from their costumes?

Think twice before I speak? Actually, I did. My first thought was "That's a really lame idea" and my second thought was, "Hey, I'm going to poke fun at it!" So, thank you anyway, but I think I have the whole "think twice" thing well sorted.

And why shouldn't I try to lamp Hello Kitty? What's she going to do, call for help? Er, hello, no mouth much?

(Thanks for the comment, Scout, but I think you need a finer appreciation of satire - or at least sarcasm, which is a lot easier to come by these days.)

Posted by: chris at November 27, 2005 01:34 AM


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