"...you,my long legged cutie,have been very naughty, now go to my room"
Posted on 12/29/2017 1:45:36 PM PST by nickcarraway
Vietnam's VietJet Aviation said on Thursday (Dec 28) it was standing by a controversial "bikini" calendar, a marketing ploy featuring scantily clad female models that has prompted criticism in conservative South-east Asia and beyond.
The annual calendar, which has gone viral online, is part of a broader marketing push by VietJet that has propelled the start-up airline's rapid growth, as it has taken market share from Vietnam Airlines.
The publication of the 2018 calendar - which critics say overly sexualises the image of flight attendants and other airline staff - comes as there is a growing debate in the global airlines industry about sexual harassment and in-flight assault of both passengers and employees.
VietJet, founded by Ms Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao - Vietnam's first female billionaire and one of a handful of women running a major airline globally - said the calendar emphasised the free choice of people to wear whatever they wanted.
READ ALSO VietJet Air releases 2018 calendar featuring bikini-clad models (yes, again) VietJet Air releases 2018 calendar featuring bikini-clad models (yes, again) "We are not upset when people associate us with the bikini image. If that makes people delighted and happy, then we'll be happy," Mr Luu Duc Khanh, VietJet's managing director, said in e-mailed comments to Reuters.
When asked about the views of Ms Thao, Mr Khanh said the CEO thought people "have the right to wear whatever they like, bikini or traditional ao dai", referring to the traditional Vietnamese long dress.
Ms Thao was unavailable for an interview.
The calendar has caused an online storm in Vietnam, with some people criticising and others defending the campaign. The 2018 calendar and a YouTube video of the photo shoot have been viewed more than 910,000 times since first appearing at the end of last month.
"I think (the calendar) is beautiful, not unpleasant at all," one user posted on Facebook under the avatar Mai Co. Another person, named as Van Nhi, said the airline was "creating scandal to gain attention". "It's getting more unpleasant."
Critics say VietJet's risque marketing, including the calendar and bikini fashion shows on board planes, presented an archaic and sexist image of cabin crew, even as the risk of harassment and assault go widely underreported.
VietJet is "taking us back 50 years by hyper-sexualising a female dominated work group in order to make a few bucks off a couple of cheesy calendars", said Ms Heather Poole, a veteran US flight attendant and author of a book about working the not-always-friendly skies.
"Women have to work so hard to be taken seriously, and in this case it's a woman in charge taking us back to the days of 'Coffee, Tea or Me?'," she added, alluding to a 1960s book about two fictitious female flight attendants that emphasised their sexual appetite.
วันนี้ วันที่ 18 ธ.ค.60 สายการบิน VietJetAir เปิดไฟล์ปฐมฤกษ์ เส้นทาง ดาลัด ( Dalat) สายการบิน1/3
Mr Khanh said Vietjet flight attendants have been trained to handle sexual harassment situations.
VietJet is not the first firm to use racy calendars to raise its profile. Italian tyre maker Pirelli - known for its calendars of glamorous female models - has overhauled the annual offering in recent years with less of a focus on nudity.
Irish budget carrier Ryanair Holdings in 2014 scrapped an annual charity calendar featuring female cabin crew posing in bikinis in favour of more family-friendly images.
Mr Khanh, who said the proceeds from sales of the VietJet calendar go to charity, acknowledged that there could be big changes in the content for the next version.
"Male models is a good idea for us to introduce in our calendars next year," he said.
What models and actresses I’ve hired for vain attempts at stock footage sales have generally been normal build. Me striking a blow against the anorexic look.
The skinny ones generally have some kind of personality problem or are airheads.
I admit that is part of the attraction for me as well. I see a nicely, well shaped thumb being poked into the eyes of people who get apoplectic over this kind of thing as a form of entertainment and just desserts for those getting poked.
LOL, not much, but...hope!
No old bags, old hags or old fags. No gays, grannies or grandes!
“Is it just me, or do some of those girls look like they have more than a trace of GI DNA?”
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Could be, but it’s also been the in-thing for some time now for Asians in general to look “Western”.
Asia’s ideal beauty: Looking Caucasian
http://www.cnn.com/2013/06/25/health/asian-beauty/index.html
“No old bags, old hags or old fags. No gays, grannies or grandes!”
Well that leaves me out. :-)
.
And the girls with a genetic advantage have a head start.
“And the girls with a genetic advantage have a head start.”
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True. Though, in addition, you have to keep one thing in mind these days when it comes to professional pics of pretty girls - “Photoshop”.
They have had resounding success with their calendars and their marketing methods. Vietnam is a very conservative country and the female owner of VietJet is delivering low cost air transport along with the sizzle. Won't be welcomed by the tight-as#ed in the Western world but it's Asia, not the West (Thank you VERY MUCH!).
Couldn’t have said it better myself.
Photoshop and good lighting can cover many flaws.
You Numbah One!
NOT GUILTY but the chick in Full Metal was a walking disease. Back in the day in the Army a 12 pack would tell me otherwise.
It's your silly western notions.
The actresses, models and spokes models in Vietnam as well as Thailand all have the pearly white skin and looks which we would think of as western but it's their own idea of beauty, inspired more by Japanese/Korean/Chinese images than Western IMO. Plastic surgery is cheap and widely available here in Thailand as their economic success enables them to indulge. Looking sexy doesn't mean they are working girls by the way, it simply means they aren't saddled with western notions about propriety.
The French blood makes for some beautiful Vietnamese women!
“Photoshop and good lighting can cover many flaws.”
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And let us not forget to add in the female warpaint!
Chinese Girls With & Without Their Makeup
https://www.chinasmack.com/chinese-girls-with-without-their-makeup
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlCtMsSN7jg
"...you,my long legged cutie,have been very naughty, now go to my room"
And they say we lost that war.
CC
And me give you something tetracycline will run and hide from.
rwood
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