From Saturday's full page ads, I particularly loved the 'faceless evil Union dudes destroying your beloved Qantas' who were represented by a generic Getty Image photo of blokes with their arms crossed shown from the neck down.
I guess it's supposed to show that...they're FACELESS.
Honestly, it made ALP election ads look positively subtle.
Most non-aviation people I talk to don't care about the Qantas As Icon so much, but they think that the 'Unavoidable Australian Job Losses + BTW there's a $500m profit' sounds a bit suss.
What sort of business takes out full page ads to say how their business strategy isn't working? Once again, there was no mention of the product. The same paper had ads for Etihad, Singapore, Emirates etc with glamourous photos of exotic locations, cute hosties and reasonable prices via Dar Es Salaam et al. If you were a newly arrived alien on Earth reading a copy of the paper, apart from the generic 'aircraft tails at airport' shot you'd be confused about what Qantas actually does.
It's a bit like running a bar and taking out an ad saying 'we're neck deep in yobs and our drink prices are through the roof. Also, our toilets smell. By the way...choose us'!
