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The Empire Strikes BagIf You’re Sick, You Might As Well Try to Have A Sense of Humor About itNo one wants to get sick on an airplane, but if you have to reach for that sick bag, you might as well grab for a fun one with a sense of humor. Virgin Atlantic is joining in Star Wars mania by putting 100,000 sickbags, which have been specially designed for the new sci-fi blockbuster, on its planes. With millions of Star Wars' die-hard fans across the world, the airline expects these designs to be very popular with passengers. The limited edition Star Wars sick bags have four different designs with tongue-in-cheek instructions for would-be Jedi knights. One gives spoof instructions on the right way to hold a light sabre (without cutting your head off), while another shows how to master Jedi combat. Another gives a detailed diagram of a light sabre, while a fourth splits an airplane into a light and dark side depending on where certain passengers are seated. A total of 25,000 of each of the designs are being printed. Sir Richard Branson, chairman of Virgin Atlantic, said: "We think our passengers will love them. Star Wars has a very big cult following among all age groups and we believe it is something that will bring a smile to the faces of our passengers. Of course, we hope that our flights are as smooth as normal so that passengers don't need to use the sickbags - we want them to see the funny side of these sickbags not the inside." Last December, Virgin Atlantic commissioned a competition for designers to put their artwork on a limited edition range of sickbags in conjunction with 'Design for Chunks.' You might also be surprised at the popularity of these little bags, whose presence in the seat back in front of us, most of us carefully try to ignore. Lysette Gauna, Head of Media for Virgin Atlantic, commented: "After the success of the 'Design for Chunks' sickbags, we became aware of the number of people out there who collect sickbags – we even had a sickbag museum contact us! They became instantly popular and a bidding war even starting up on Ebay. We believe one even reached a price of $155. We anticipate an even bigger demand for our Star Wars sickbags because of the cult following of the films." For further information please contact the Virgin Atlantic Press Office at 203-750-2570 or log onto www.virgin-atlantic.com Edited by Erika Wright |
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