KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 2 — Putrajaya’s efforts to revive ailing national carrier Malaysia Airlines Systems Bhd (MAS) under the same name may be a “lost cause” since some flyers associate it with “death and destruction”, a blog with London-based magazine The Economist said today.
Pointing out to recent marketing blunders committed by the airline, the business travel blog Gulliver said the mistakes were “banal”, but faced public uproar nonetheless since the carrier has lost two jetliners.
“The Malaysian government obviously feels compelled to try to save the airline. But if even the faintest echoes cause people instantly to associate the airline with death and destruction, saving it as a business — especially under its current name — may already be a lost cause,” said the blog.
After a second social media gaffe since losing two planes this year, MAS apologised last week and removed a poorly-worded tweet on its year-end promotion following a slew of criticism.
The national carrier, whose Flight MH370 disappeared in March and which remains missing, yesterday posted the following message on Twitter: “Want to go somewhere, but don’t know where? Our Year-End Specials might just help! #keepflying”.
Users of the site were quick to draw a link between the message and MH370 that disappeared with 227 people on board, prompting MAS to remove the offending message.
Gulliver also listed down other bungles, including a September advertising campaign and free-ticket giveaway that asked customers to submit their “ultimate bucket lists”, and tweet in the same month using the hashtag #flyinghigh, which advised: “If you fell down yesterday, don’t stay down. Get up as quick as you can.”
In addition, a tweet in October highlighting the airline’s new slogan, “keepflying”, read: “It does not matter how slowly you go, as long as you do not stop.”
“The offensive thing about these items isn’t that they recall the loss of MH370, still missing somewhere in the Indian Ocean, or the downing of MH17 over Ukraine. It’s that they’re utterly banal,” the blog wrote.
“Only the most thin-skinned and histrionic of Malaysia Airlines’ customers could conceivably claim to be offended by this pablum. At worst, these promotions highlight the airline’s marketers’ lack of creativity.”
Last week, the Finance Ministry tabled a new piece of legislation to oversee the administration of financially-troubled MAS, to establish a new entity named Malaysia Airlines Berhad (MAB), which will replace MAS as the national carrier.
Flight MH17 was shot down in Ukraine in July, four months after another flight MH370 en route to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur vanished mid-air in March. No trace of the earlier plane has been found.
