Yes, you read that right. Easyjet has launched the first ever poetry competition that must be submitted on an in-flight sick bag.
Inspired by a real message left by a lovely passenger on recent flight, the airline discovered that passengers have been penning loving rhymes and verses for other passengers to find.
The competition has been kicked off by the acclaimed Bill Bilston. His rather clever poem is in our image but wannabe poets of all ages, experience and abilities are welcome.
The competition will be judged by poet laureate Daisy Goodwin. Goodwin is the best-selling author of eight poetry anthologies and also writer of the multi-award-winning ITV Drama ‘Victoria’.
She said: “Who hasn’t felt sick with anticipation travelling to see the one you love? It may be a short flight but emotionally it’s a long haul – poetry is the perfect way to calm that turmoil, and arrive with a heart full of such loving words.
“It was, after all, Margaret Atwood who wrote, ‘Writing poetry is a state of free float.’
“And Walt Whitman’s ‘Poem of Joys’ could easily have been written about the joy of an easyJet flight to Venice or any of the airline’s 129 other destinations: ‘To emerge, and be of the sky — of the sun and moon, and the flying clouds, as one with them.’”
Don’t be intimidated by such luminaries, your poem can be humorous, silly, sweet, simple or written in iambic pentameter. This is a competition for anyone.
The contest opens on February 1st, runs until the end of the month and is backed by easyJet data, which reveals that over 29% of easyJet Flight Club customers are in long-distance relationships and that 250,000 couples are expected to fly off on romantic mini-breaks during the Spring.
The campaign is believed to be ‘the world’s first poetry competition ever staged on sick bags’, and it’s hoped that the initiative will provide a smile to those challenged by long distance love.
Tina Milton, Head of Cabin Crew, at easyJet said: “Distance is said to make the heart grow fonder, but long-distance relationships are always hit with some light turbulence. We are challenging our customers to channel their inner Byron, Keats and Wordsworth and pen some romantic lines on the back of our passenger sick bags.”
Entrants need to pen their poem on a sick bag (available from their seatback pocket on an easyJet flight) and then share their creation publicly on Twitter or Instagram with @easyJet using the tag #LoveSickSonnets. Once submitted, entrants can take their masterpiece away with them.
Entrants have the opportunity of winning a pair of flights to anywhere on the easyJet network. The competition closes at midnight on February 28 and the winner will be contacted directly.
Find out more by visiting easyjet.com or on easyJet’s social channels: Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/easyJet/ and @easyJet on Twitter and Instagram.
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