Virgin Australia has acknowledged that publishing a customer’s email criticizing its “Pride Flights” while promoting the effort in a social media post constituted “an error of judgement.”
The airline posted a screenshot of an email that it said was sent by the angry customer who called the celebration of drag queens “mentally crazy” on Twitter.
The letter said that “your most recent advertising campaign promoting an infinitesimally tiny fringe minority in our society is an insult [to] the typical everyday Australians.”
The email, which was received from an account owned by “Ian and Karen,” was signed by a “disgusted former customer” who pledged they would never travel with Virgin again. Drag queens were assaulted throughout the email.
The airline stated: “Thank you for your email Karen, in case you missed it, Pride Flight is on sale now” in the Twitter post that went along with the email.
Virgin quickly received harsh criticism for the tweet and confessed on Friday night that sharing the email “was a wrong thing to do.”
The airline issued a statement to Daily Mail Australia claiming that it made a mistake in posting “disrespectful and nasty email correspondence concerning our Pride Flights.”
Twitter users immediately criticized the airline for publishing the nasty email and demanding to know whether it had been fabricated.
As journalist Asher Wolf tweeted, “Yes, definitely support LGBTQI+, but don’t make up bogus hate letters to sell tickets, then erase your article when challenged on it.”
Joshua Badge, a queer author and philosopher, referred to the misdirected effort as “rainbow capitalism at its best.”
They commented, “Taking bets on which is worse lmao: either it’s bogus or they published a hate email.”
I could respectfully propose that the true answer is to just *not* exploit homophobia as a pretext to sell tickets.
Trying to clickbait both sides to boost involvement, a health advocate wrote. What is the name of this marketing strategy? Mirroring? Rage-Baiting?’
The airline discreetly removed the message from its account after receiving further complaints from Twitter users on the nasty email.
It is assumed that the email, which was written to Virgin in an attempt to protest about their pride flight campaign, which includes a website, was delivered in good faith.
The airline said in a statement on Friday that it was “very proud of its inclusive culture and its Pride Flight project.”
At Virgin Australia, we think it’s crucial to speak out in favor of and in support of the LGBTQIA+ community where we live, work, and travel.
However, it was a mistake on the part of our crew to put online disparaging and abusive email correspondence regarding our Pride Flights.
“While the goal was to draw attention to this intolerable behavior, the truth is that it was a wrong thing to do,” the author writes.
The Pride Flight campaign featured “an infinitesimally tiny fringe element in our society,” according to the email that started the Twitter uproar on Thursday.
Who, in their right mind, would believe it would be a good idea to honor the drag queen culture and think it would depict your organization in a positive light? I’d suggest mentally sick individuals, it read.
The email continued by alleging that supporting the LGBTQ community revealed the “depths of depravity” to which Virgin Australia’s executives had “descended,” and it implied that personnel will suffer because of these “irrational actions.”
“A disgruntled former passenger” signed off the message.
The Ru Paul’s Drag Race Downunder cast members Coco Jumbo, Maxi Shield, and Kween Kong, as well as well-known drag queens Penny Tration, Barbie Q, and Torah Hymen, will host a number of Virgin flights to Sydney in February 2023.
Additionally, Dannii Minogue took part in the initiative’s introduction for the 2023 pride flights.
The airline has been promoting the campaign with films over the last week that include drag queens dressed as flight attendants waving rainbow flags.
One-way Pride Flights from Perth to Sydney can be purchased for $379, with Virgin donating $30 from the sale of each ticket to the gay youth organization Minus18.
Barbie Q, a drag performer from Perth, will host a special flight on February 24 where guests may enjoy DJ sets and a pre-flight party.
After receiving favorable community response, Virgin Australia’s chief people officer Lisa Burquest announced that the number of Pride Flights had been increased.
At Virgin Australia, she added, “diversity and inclusion on all levels are incredibly essential, and the LGBTQ+ community has always been significant, both as consumers and as workers.”