--- description: Malaysia Airlines launched a competition for travelers in Australia and New Zealand with a highly inappropriate theme title: Malaysia Airlines Asked for Travelers' Bucket Lists image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt555e7d63722a3b47/6986a19de8524b6c856047f7/rtr43vzb.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Malaysia](/tag/malaysia/) ## Malaysia Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Malaysia Airlines Asked for Travelers' 'Bucket Lists' in Ill-Advised Contest by [Elizabeth Barber](/author/time-staff/) ## Elizabeth Barber Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 2, 2014 9:13 AM CUT  A member of ground crew works on a Malaysia Airlines Boeing 737-800 airplane on the runway at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on July 25, 2014 A member of ground crew works on a Malaysia Airlines Boeing 737-800 airplane on the runway at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on July 25, 2014Olivia Harris—Reuters by [Elizabeth Barber](/author/time-staff/) ## Elizabeth Barber Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 2, 2014 9:13 AM CUT Malaysia Airlines (MAS) [launched a competition](http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/mas-offers-free-flights-after-near-empty-plane-snapshot-goes-viral "undefined") in Australia and New Zealand four days ago, according to media reports, in which it said it was giving away free economy-class tickets and free iPads. The marketing ploy was to be expected from an airline still reeling from the twin tragedies of MH17 and MH370, but the competition name was bizarre: My Ultimate Bucket List. Contestants had to explain “What and where would you like to tick off on your bucket list?” The Merriam-Webster [definition](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bucketlist "undefined") of _bucket list_ is “a list of things that one has not done before but wants to do before dying.” The association is horrific, given that 537 people lost their lives flying on the airline this year. The contest appears to have since been withdrawn, with the [original competition link](http://www.malaysiaairlines.com/au/en/campaign/bucket-list-contest.html "undefined") now leading to a 404 error page. A PDF of the competition terms and conditions could be found [here](http://www.malaysiaairlines.com/content/dam/malaysia-airlines/mas/PDF/Campaign/mybucketlist%5Ftnc.pdf "undefined") at time of publication, but besides that there no longer appear to be details of the competition on the MAS site. The launch of the competition was [picked up](http://www.travelmonitor.com.au/mas-fights-back-incentives-agents-customers/ "undefined") in the Australian travel-industry press and even [name-checked](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel%5Fnews/article-2736560/Struggling-Malaysia-Airlines-slashes-prices-long-haul-routes-London-gives-away-free-flights-customers-crew-desert-following-twin-disasters.html "undefined") in British tabloid the _Daily Mail_. But perhaps MAS has since realized that asking prospective passengers to think up a bucket list before accepting a free ticket on one of its planes might be construed as macabre. The airline can at least be grateful that online gaffes can be deleted. In 2003, the Hong Kong Tourism Board ran [an ad](http://www.theguardian.com/media/2003/apr/09/pressandpublishing.marketingandpr "undefined") promising would-be visitors that “Hong Kong will take your breath away.” At the time, SARS — severe acute respiratory syndrome — had killed about 100 people, mostly in Hong Kong and China. But the ad ran in British and European print magazines — and there was no time to change the slogan before the presses started to roll. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3254363/malaysia-airlines-mas-my-ultimate-bucket-list-branding-marketing-disaster/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3254363/malaysia-airlines-mas-my-ultimate-bucket-list-branding-marketing-disaster/"},"headline":"Malaysia Airlines Asked for Travelers' 'Bucket Lists' in Ill-Advised Contest","datePublished":"2014-09-02T09:13:37.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:12:54.731Z","description":"Would-be passengers in Australia and New Zealand were invited to share their bucket lists in hopes of winning a free ticket","url":"https://time.com/3254363/malaysia-airlines-mas-my-ultimate-bucket-list-branding-marketing-disaster/","keywords":["Malaysia","Newsfeed","Hong Kong topic","Aviation","Malaysia Airlines","MH370","#MH17"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt555e7d63722a3b47/6986a19de8524b6c856047f7/rtr43vzb.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Elizabeth Barber"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt555e7d63722a3b47/6986a19de8524b6c856047f7/rtr43vzb.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"A member of ground crew works on a Malaysia Airlines Boeing 737-800 airplane on the runway at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang","caption":"A member of ground crew works on a Malaysia Airlines Boeing 737-800 airplane on the runway at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang","creditText":"Olivia Harris—Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/malaysia/","name":"Malaysia"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3254363/malaysia-airlines-mas-my-ultimate-bucket-list-branding-marketing-disaster/","name":"Malaysia Airlines Asked for Travelers' 'Bucket Lists' in Ill-Advised Contest"}}]}] ```