The B&Q hardware store in the UK has organized an inspired marketing campaign that has gone viral and fooled quite a few people and news organizations.

And now the joke has spread to the airline industry.

Apparently, according to Snopes, B&Q’s public relations team published a press release that reported on an internal memo that had been sent to all employees. The memo in question alerted employees to expect an increase in sales of certain items (duct tape, cable ties, rope, etc) once the movie, “Fifty Shades of Grey” was released in theaters.

Somehow, and this is where things get a little fuzzy, the media picked up on this story and reported it as a true event.

And, as best I can tell, a travel blog called BugAdvisor has repurposed the memo and “reported” that this version of the memo has been distributed internally by an unspecified airline.

The full text of the memo can be found on BugAdvisor, but here are a couple of excerpts:

Crew are asked to monitor use of the aircraft toilet. If a toilet is in use for an extended period, crew should first knock and ask if the passenger requires assistance. If there is no answer then crew are authorised to override the door lock and gain entry.

 

If you find a passenger tied up and gagged, do not immediately assume that this is the result of an assault. Remove the gag and attempt to discern what has happened.

Duct tape, rope and cable ties should not be affixed to any part of the aircraft. Seat belts should only be used for the purpose intended.

Members of the Business Traveller forums are engaged in discussion about this purported memo, but seem to be more interested in the quality, or lack thereof, of the actual movie.

I enjoyed the review by the film critic of De Standard newspaper.

 

“A bad book made into a bad film, rent a copy of Emanuele instead and at least you get a classic film with the soft porn” ~Charles-P

As a proud male, that book has probably become the bane of most of our lives…….if the fairer sex was demanding before reading/seeing fifty shades, then they have become downright egotistically rebellious with their needs…….

 

Ladies, treat me not like a sex toy, I have a brain too!! ~canucklad

Read the thread in its entirety: Fifty Shades of Grey – cabin crew memo