Timing Is Everything

Cathay Pacific Airlines was all set to launch a new high-profile international marketing campaign with the tagline "Meet the team who go the extra mile to make you feel special."

However, the campaign has been delayed due to the publication of "titillating photographs showing two crew members, widely reported to be a pilot and a flight attendant, in decidedly compromising positions."

Indeed, the not-safe-for-work-photos show a woman who appears to be a flight attendant in midst of cockpit tryst with a man said to be a pilot for the Hong Kong-based airline, which enjoys a reputation for high service standards.

The photos have become a hot story among Chinese media. The images surfaced after they were allegedly stolen from the presumed pilot's laptop.

Regardless of how the photos got to the media, they appear to have put on hold the second phase of Cathay Pacific's "People and Service" campaign, which had been set to debut in September.

Too bad the ads were pulled. They would have been the best since the old National Airlines "Fly Me" campaign of the 1970s...