Schapelle Corby blasts Qantas
 

Corby blasts Qantas ban

SMH Friday Nov 17th

Corby ... says "an innocent holiday on one of their planes ripped my life apart".

If Qantas believed I was just a girl who got lucky smuggling drugs, surely a picture of me at the airport would be a great anti drugs warning - a deterrent! But to ban a large poster of my book ... it is

Schapelle Corby says it is "sinister" that Qantas has refused to display advertising of her new book at its Australian terminals.

The convicted drug smuggler's new book, My Story, went on sale last Friday and is already fifth on the bestseller list from just one day of recorded sales.

The book's publisher, Pan Macmillan, had hoped to have large light-box advertisements displayed at airports across Australia throughout December.
But Qantas has deemed the ads, which simply show the cover of the book, "inappropriate" for its terminals

"We reserve the right to refuse any advertising we deem inappropriate for our premises and that is one that's been refused," a Qantas spokesman told smh.com.au.

In comments collected from her Bali prison by her sister Mercedes, Corby said she was dumbfounded by the decision.

"I don't know what the problem with publicising the book is, as everything I have written is true. Qantas has a lot to hide," Corby said.

"So Qantas doesn't believe in free speech? This says everything to me."

"They don't want to remind the public of what happened on their flight ... that I flew Qantas on a holiday to paradise and ended up in hell."

"If Qantas believed I was just a girl who got lucky smuggling drugs, surely a picture of me at the airport would be a great anti drugs warning - a deterrent! But to ban a large poster of my book ... it is sinister... it backs what my family has said all along.

"They want all this to go away, they want me to go away, vanish, rot in this hellhole for 20 years ... let the public forget the terrifying truth ... that an innocent holiday on one of their planes ripped my life apart. It can happen to anyone. It did happen to anyone ... but that anyone was me ... Schapelle Corby.

Pan Macmillan publisher Tom Gilliatt said advertising space at airports and shopping centres across the country had been booked back in February for various Pan Macmillan titles, including My Story.

"Virgin [Blue] and the shopping centres have no problem with advertising Schapelle Corby's book but Qantas obviously does."

The book's co-author, Kathryn Bonella, said the ad ban was "unbelievable".
"Qantas know Schapelle Corby is innocent otherwise surely it would be a great deterrent to have a picture of Schapelle Corby at an airport terminal. Virgin has no problem with it."

Asked to explain why Qantas had deemed the ad inappropriate when Virgin Blue had found no problem with it, the Qantas spokesman said: [That's] completely and utterly up to them."

Qantas has a lot to hide," Corby said.:D :D :D

made me giggle.

Qf dont believe in free anything!

Have I got this right?
She accused Qantas baggage staff of planting drugs in her bag and is now complaining because Qantas doesn't want to give her publicity:confused:

Tell me one other company that would not have acted in the same manner

I'll bet the slapper spells it Quantas.

Islander Jock,

Qantas is very willing to give free publicity to an number of other enterprises ranging from the Gay Mardigra festival to a certain pub in Wagga so why should they not allow an ad for a book which is selling in paper shops.

The Book will probably sell in terminals that VB fly out of so this a little like sticking your head in the sand and pretending no one can see you.QF has also given Schappelle more free advertising by not allowing it than by doing nothing.

so let me get this straight, QF wont allow the book to be advertised by light boards out the front of the usual bookstores in its terminals, and in doing so, they have created a news story that will be seen by many more people, all over oz, who don't regularly fly, giving the book that much more exposure.....

on a second note, Im sure QF don't own all of their terminals, and wouldn't it be up to the terminal owner to decide what their tenants, the bookstores, can advertise in their terminal space and not QF?

No, I believe QANTAS have retained the right of advertising veto in their lease agreement

What company would allow someone to advertise their 'anti-company' propaganda on their property? For her to suggest that this proves anything or is even remotely sinister shows her substance :yuk:

Or does QANTAS indeed have something to hide?

Either way - when launching a book, any advertising is good advertising.

I didn't even know QF was implicated in the whole affair until I read this!

****su,
As you are ovbiously unaware, Schappelle arrived in Bali on an Australian Airlines flight, owned by Qantas. She has filed appeals to the courts disputing her arrest and blaming Qantas for "planting" drugs in her luggage. Now I'm sure that most of us have made our own minds up as to who is the "guilty" one however Qantas is and always will be implicated in this case until proven 100% innocent of this accusation. It is not in the best interest of Qantas to support her claims and therefore not support her or I should say her family proffiting from a book or any other publication written by the accused. Untill this is finally laid to rest, and that will be a long time as appeals in Indonesia seem to be endless how could you expect the prime defendant to support the accused. That could lead to further implications in the future and the decision made by Qantas not to sell the book in it's terminals is quite possibly a choice made by lawyers on behalf of Qantas. And if it did happen to Virgin, well, they would probably cash in and take the puplicity, thank God I work for a company that stands their ground.

Young Miss Corby was CONVICTED of smuggling drugs. Now while I would rather we did not go into the finer points of the investigation or Indonesion courts, she has been convicted of a serious crime. In Australia we have laws regarding the profits Criminals can make from books or publicity about their crimes. Miss Corby may not be subject to those laws because her Crime was committed in another country, but well done Qantas for for sticking to the spirit of those laws.

Any inference of Qantas employee involvement in this case is unproven in court and it's a fair call if a company would rather not have their reputation sullied by a convicted drug dealer.

This has got nothing to do with QF's social conscience and upholding the 'spirit' of Aussie laws. It is about QF copping a shellacking in her book and not wanting it advertised. The only thing stopping QF from having shops stock it in the terminal is the breach of the competition rules in this nation. If QF could do so without copping a breach from the ACCC (or whoever it is that enforces such competition issues) then they would have banned the book in a blink.

From cold hard experience lots of people who are guilty are found to be 'not' and lots of people who are 'not' are found 'guilty'. I'd bet money that she probably didn't do it. I'd have money each way on whether it was her brother or baggage handlers. I had a mate with a certain police agency who was investigating drug trafficking through the airport. He reckons that she's an even money chance to not have done it. :eek:

Mr Keg as I said I would rather not go into the intricacies of the investigation or the courts, I will go by the facts as I see them. Miss Corby was convicted of smuggling drugs. If she is innocent it is a tragedy, but as it stands she is a convicted criminal. Good luck with her appeals and if someone else is guilty and she knows who, she should talk.

As to Qantas not putting the book on display, would you if you were bagged on a purely speculative unproved level? Would you if the intent of the bagging was for purely self serving reasons? I think it is already a PR disaster, no need to make it worse.

I doubt the reasons Qantas are not putting the ads up are for my fine noble reasons. They are probably the same selfish reasons Miss Corby wants them there, but doesn't it look good for them.

Personally, I think she did it, or more likely her brother/half brother or whatever did it and she took the fall.

Over the years a small element within the brotherhood of bagsnatchers has been proven to be less than squeaky clean, but they are not total dopes. If one was going to load a bunch of Noosa Hedz into a bag for pickup in Sydney, you sure as hell would pick a terminating bag or long stay domestic transfer and not an international tranship. Once the thing has left Australia, there is absolutely no control over any planted items.

Where Miss Corby went totally wrong was her handling or lack thereof of the Indonesian Police.They are indeed the finest Police money can buy, and a well placed $20,000 bribe initially would have made all her problems go away. As it became more public, the ante would have gone up but the bastards are so corrupt that there is always a price.

I have personally paid a bribe to make a traffic infringement go away and have been present when a US citizen has bribed his way out of a Visa overstay. This is much more serious, but there is always a price.

Miss Schapell may be ( or was - as the mileage is no doubt clocking up at an alarming rate now) a pretty lady, but unfortunately nobody had given her a good whacking with a clever stick.

I am not in the least amazed that QF wants nothing to do with her. It would be right up there with renaming Club Rat the Osama Lounge.

Best all

EWL

This is not a court room and whether Ms Corby is guilty or not is irrelevant.

The point is that by denying the ad in it's terminal the company has given the sort of publicity that the publishers could have only wished for.

If they had done nothing the book would have been just one of a numer of books that come out every few weeks and after a while fade into oblivion.

It is decisions like this that really make me wonder about the capability of senior management

Well I for one didn't realise the book was even out there, but I do now, thanks to PPRUNE and Qantas.

Great advertising. :ok:

Well all I can say is that she must be a real bimbo not to realise that her boogie board bag weighed an extra four kilo's. How dumb can one be?

guilty
 

so let me see, convicted imprisoned ,now wants to make some extra cash since her family trade is busted do the crime do the time just say no to drugs ok would it have mattered who she flew?

"Well all I can say is that she must be a real bimbo not to realise that her boogie board bag weighed an extra four kilo's. How dumb can one be?"

I would also love to see the video footage as she collects her body board and discovers the new shape from all the 'lightweight padding'. Defineatly GUILTY and keep her locked up if not for the drugs but for also riding a bodyboard:mad: .