Feline queasy? EVA Air has something for that: the Hello Kitty barf bag! These bags were standard equipment on the Taiwanese airline’s pair of Hello Kitty jets from 2005 through 2009, and are popular collectibles today.
EVA Air is Taiwan’s largest privately owned airline, boasting a fleet of 55 jets serving various Asian destinations including Japan. In 2005, the airline partnered with Japanese cuteness superpower Sanrio to launch the Hello Kitty Jet, followed by a second even more kittified plane the following year.
Whereas the original Hello Kitty Jet only displayed imagery of the mega-popular character on the A330-200’s exterior, the second plane plastered the iconic character’s mouthless mug on just about everything inside the jet: packs of peanuts, place mats, head rest covers, the flight attendants’ uniforms… and the airsickness bags. It’s the latter that have made the biggest impact – unlike EVA Air’s Hello Kitty jets, which had a perfect safety record.
Popularity of both Hello Kitty jets grew to the point that EVA Air extended their service to the big-money Taipei to Hong Kong route in the summer of 2007. Sadly though, all good things have to come to an end and EVA Air’s Hello Kitty campaign came to a close in 2009.
Perhaps the problem was that too many passengers helped themselves to Hello Kitty flight accessories, creating an unexpected extra expense for EVA Air.
Judging from the plethora of these items posted online at blogs and websites, that would seem to be the case. At least, only unused Hello Kitty barf bags were saved as souvenirs, for which everyone should be thankful. (via Hello Kitty Junkie and Japanator)
