It’s about 1:00pm on a relatively slow news day and Qantas Airways launches a twitter competition inviting users to tweet their idea of Qantas luxury, together with the hashtag #qantasluxury.

The prizes offered are Qantas pyjamas and amenities packs. “To enter tell us 'What is your dream luxury inflight experience? (Be creative!) Answer must include #QantasLuxury.” read the tweet from @qantasairways.

It’s not long before the hashtag is, as many have gleefully punned, hijacked.

The tweets range from comedy to pointed remarks about recent union disputes and resulting cancellations of flights. They are, in the gross majority, negative. The hashtag is soon the number one trending hashtag in the country.

In no particular order, here’s a sample of some of the tweets on the #qantasluxury hashtag.

Humour

@AFlanagan – Is this where I come for free pyjamas? #qantasluxury

@Thefinnigans – Not [sic] matter how far and how widely i roam, QANTAS will still leave me stranded #QantasLuxury

@supremepeteza – Unlike their planes on occasion their PR efforts can _really_ fly #QantasLuxury

@tlugnistari CAN YOU PLEASE JUST ADD THE “U” ALREADY #qantasluxury

@warrencheetham I can picture a whole building of people at @QantasMedia assuming the brace position at their desks #QantasLuxury

@nattanya #QantasLuxury definitely not pyjamas and an amenities kit! #fail

@chopperT I can't wait for the #qantasluxury episode of Air Crash Investigations

@666monkeyboy #qantasluxury is Schadenfreude

Disgruntled

@elizabethdanger You know what my dream flight is? One staffed by people who are paid fairly and not bullied by an insane CEO. #qantasluxury

@StevenRobot #QantasLuxury beggars belief. Putting aside timing, patronising that anyone wants PJs to pretend they're fancy enough to fly First Class.

Dispute

@mick_power #QantasLuxury is a 70% pay rise for your CEO, paid for by your locked-out workers.

@bkohary #QantasLuxury is reserved for #AlanJoyce

@ChrisBinney I wonder if Qantas pyjamas are made in China? That would really piss the unions off #qantasluxury

@seriocomic WOW! Talk about deal of the year! #qantasluxury is offering FREE PAJAMAS in a goodwill competition! bit.ly/vu9DeA #SeeNum11

@kellulz In an office somewhere, a PR team are trying to spin #QantasLuxury promotion fallout into a benefit to the company instead of #QantasFail

@dublisuzi #QantasLuxury is TWU's divine intervention

@AMonkeyInSilk #qantasluxury Watching Joyce try to ground twitter and lockout its users.

Looking closer

If you’d like to keep an eye on how #qantasluxury is trending, Trendsmap is a great tool, illustrating trending topics in real time. It currently looks like this:

As for Qantas, they remain upbeat: “#qantasluxury is just one of many comps we've run lately. Thanks for the entries ; )” they respond, later introducing a separate hashtag “Wow! Some very creative tweeps out there. Keep the entries coming #QantasWeHearYou” and then, “At this rate our #QantasLuxury competition is going to take years to judge.”

News

The Twitter competition and resulting trending and comments has now made front page news in the online versions of The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Australian and The Brisbane Times.