Vietjet Air sparks debate for welcoming soccer team with bikini show

越捷航空公司比基尼表演歡迎足球隊引發爭議

Vietnam’s Under-23 soccer team finished as runner-up in 2018 AFC U23 Cup


TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The international Vietnamese airline Vietjet Air sparked controversy in Vietnam for welcoming the national U-23 soccer team with a bikini show.

On Jan. 27, in the finals match between Vietnam and Uzbekistan in 2018 U-23 Championship held by Asian Football Confederation wrapped up in a freezing and snowy weather conditions.

Within 120 minutes, Uzbekistan successfully defeated Vietnam with the score of 2-1 and took the gold medal. Nevertheless, Vietnam's team and their strong fighting spirit won the hearts of millions of Vietnamese people for making into the finals of a continental championship for the first time ever, Vnexpress reported.

In order to celebrate the success of Vietnam’s U-23 football team, Vietjet Air arranged a special on board catwalk show of bikini-clad models who took intimate photos with the players. In the photos, the players appeared to feel awkward and embarrassed.

After posting on social media, many Vietnamese internet users have expressed their anger towards the company and the models as "a cheap advertising strategy of Vietjet Air by using the fame of the team to promote itself." The majority of users agreed that bikini show was not suitable for a welcome ceremony and called for a boycott of the company, Vietnam media outlets reported.



(image from baomoi.com)

Vietjet, which is well-known for its advertising campaigns featuring bikini-clad supermodels, released a spicy promo calendar for 2018 featuring plenty of scantily clad beauties posing inside and outside of airliners.