Crew Rest,
Maybe you are too young to appreciate the past but what is wrong with celebrating milestones of an historic nature? Qantas has a rich history and for eons has been a leader in world aviation - so much so that others follow. For example, who led the world with Business Class?
So, are you really saying that all those years ago the planners at Qantas sat down and thought 'gee, in 50 years time a new carrier will be competing against us on the Pacific and we must have a plan for a celebration that will blow their marketing campaign out of the water?'. Get real.
The real marketing coup that gazumped Ansett had to have been the unveiling of VH-OJB and then flying the colourful beast instead of a 767 to Osaka on the same day as Ansett's inaugural to Osaka. Knowing that the "world's largest piece of artwork" would steal headlines in Japan, what a brilliant way to derail the marketing efforts of a new competitor? And not long after Ansett gave itself a lot of free publicity with its well executed own-goal "wheels up" at Sydney!
Lastly, there can be little or no excuse for sloppy and careless journalism that we see today. Is it die to igorance or lack of care or a combination of both?