Did you say plane crush?
Oh! I thought you said plane crash!
Well, that’s a relief.
But…what’s a plane crush?
Apparently it’s a phrase invented by someone in Delta Airline’s marketing department, and appeared in news stories that – as so often happens – came and went in 24 hours.
But I thought the story was worth taking a second look.
Delta Airlines has what they call a “brand partnership” with Coke, and it appears they collaborated on what they thought seemed a good idea at the time:
Create a Diet Coke cocktail napkin that encouraged passengers to “write down your number & give it to your plane crush. you never know…”
Why did Delta and Coke think this was a good idea? The napkin explains, repeating that “you never know” reminder:
Then on the reverse, a convenient place for your name and number:
I can think of few less likely locations than an airplane to start a romance:
People are jammed together like cattle, and they’re cranky because the flight’s running two hours late and/or there’s a line for the bathroom and/or the guy in front of you has permanently parked his seat back in your lap.
So to lighten things up, Delta and Coke thought they’d encourage a little “old school flirting.”
It’s unclear exactly when Delta began using the napkins, but the Twitter storm started in January. Some passengers loved the napkins (“cute!), others hated them (“creepy!”). But Mike Huckabee’s tweet was the best of all:
| “Dang! That’s why so many flight attendants and nice-looking women kept giving me napkins on my Delta flight.” |  |
That’s right, Mike. You just keep thinking that.
While some media outlets had fun punning:
“…helping love take flight…”
“…after their attempt to spark romance in the air didn’t take off…”
“…the Diet Coke ad fell flat…”
“…That idea fizzled…”
Others including NBC, CBS and The Washington Post appeared to take this event seriously:
After the Twitter tempest in a teapot, Delta and Coke apologized, and responded on Twitter with Coke saying, “Just here to keep things interesting” and the airline chiming in with, “So true. You just never know. Thanks for sharing.”
And that good idea – the airplane crush – crashed.
The napkins have been removed.
The tempest has quieted.
Until Delta debuts its new toilet paper:
I Hate Houseguests 