Boeing company uses A321 in website promo

Feb 23, 2017, (c) Leeham Co.: A Boeing company, Inventory Locator Service, yesterday posted an Evolution of Boeing graphic on its website that traces key points in Boeing’s history.

There was a problem, however: the airplane at the top of the graphic, which was photo-shopped with Boeing 737 identification, was an Airbus A321.

A Twitter storm immediately commenced after one person saw the Evolution and posted it on his Facebook page.

It isn’t the first time an Airbus airplane showed up in a Boeing-focused promo piece. The promo piece was still up last night, but may not be when the company opens for business in the Midwest today.

The graphic is posted below the jump in this post.

The A321 wasn’t the only problem. A 747-8 was used to represent the first flight of the 747-100. A 737NG freighter represented the first flight of the 737, which was the -100 series. A 787–which didn’t even exist at the time–was used to represent the 1997 merger with McDonnell Douglas. And a 777F was used to represent the first flight o the 78.

This isn’t the first time an Airbus A320 was used to promote Boeing.

In November 2013, the Washington Aerospace Partnership (“WAP,” as in upside the head, somehow seemed fitting) used an A320 in a full page Seattle Times advert touting the state as the best place in the US to do aerospace business.

Click on image once, then again, to enlarge into a crisp view.

47 Comments on “Boeing company uses A321 in website promo

    • So…the people responsible for running the graphic wake up and go to work the next morning and…have a miserable morning after discovering their picture of a Boeing 737 is actually the competition’s aircraft (i.e., Airbus A321) photoshopped in Boeing colors. What a way to start a day. I’d love to see their reactions.

      Hope nobody takes too much heat for this for it really doesn’t matter in the big scheme of things.

      • Using incorrect stock photos I can understand… what’s really weird is putting Boeing 737 colours on an A321 model/image!

        Or did they also just use something they found online for that too? Someone else’s little joke images?

        • For the fun of it I took crops from items shown
          and fed that as fodder into TinEye.com.

          That gave me the GECAS freighter conversion hint as one example. No luck with the A737-321 though. 🙂

        • Knowing Boeing they were probably instructed to do it to promote innuendo that Airbus evolved out of Boeing. Lots of innuendo going around these days.

    • I think this company will be “former” Boeing company in due course!

      Unbelievable. Stupid marketing dopes…

      • I was a technical writer for McAir and other Fortune 100 aerospace concerns for better than twenty years. I created thousands of pages of internal and external documents. This is a major faux pas. I’m guessing this was farmed out to outside sources due to staffing reductions either recent or in the past. Major blunder. It’s the same as a Pepsi can in a Coke commercial; a Big Mac in a Burger King ad; a F150 picture instead of a Dodge Ram… ad nauseam

    • Well, considering how much Airbus copies Boeing’s designs, I guess I’m surprised it doesn’t happen more often!

    • Also the Ju 52 did already flew in 1930 three years ahead of Boeing’s Model 247.

      • depends in what you deem “modern airliner”.
        fully metal and unbraced wing designed for the purpose:
        Junkers F13 ( 1919) . If you want it bigger Ju G38 ( 1929 ). wide range of full metal types in between ( always available as passenger and/or freight types.)

        If it is stressed skin monocoque …
        Ju 86 ( 1934 )
        Ju 90
        FW200
        :-()

        • Opps – it was the following model that was pressurized

          The Boeing Model 247 was an early United States airliner, considered the first such aircraft to fully incorporate advances such as all-metal (anodized aluminium) semimonocoque construction, a fully cantilevered wing and retractable landing gear.[2][3] Other advanced features included control surface trim tabs, an autopilot and de-icing boots for the wings and tailplane.[4]

          “Ordered off the drawing board”, the 247 first flew on February 8, 1933 and entered service later that year.[5] Subsequently, development in airliner design saw engines and airframes becoming larger and four-engined designs emerged, but no significant changes to this basic formula appeared until cabin pressurization and high altitude cruise were introduced in 1940, with the first pressurized airliner, the Boeing 307 Stratoliner.[5]

          • The first entirely jet powered civilian airliner flight was the Nene powered Vickers Viking G-AJPH on 6 April 1948. Later that year on the 39th anniversary of Bleriots cross channel flight it flew Heathrow -Villacoublay in 34 mins

  1. OK, HERE IS THE T – R – U – T – H….
    This whole situation occurred because of a premature Wiki-Leaked release from Libtards in Patagonia. It was supposed to be an APRIL FOOLS DAY JOKE.

  2. Well, somebody’s gonna get fired, right? (Or, maybe, somebodies? LOL) And rightfully so. Also, I recommend that Randy provides input, oversight and final review of their marketing material going forward. And what’s the lack of inclusion of the MAX, a premier current BA product going into service this year? Marketing fail, bigly!

  3. Funny to see that they are already infected by “alternative facts” with their new friend in the background … 😉

  4. Just the Brave New World. “Disruptive technologies” to reduce costs by any means. If it looks cool, who cares about “minor technical details”?
    Cheap Trivial superficiality…

    • PR and NEWS has long sipped from the fount of alternate facts.
      What ever fits the objective is ok.
      only in most cases the recipient doesn’t notice at all
      … or gobbles it down lock stock and barrel: “Sweden goes down in flames”. “Airbus ist just catching up.”

  5. The walking FOD and Power point rangers stgrike again.

    Now waiting for the rollout of the Boeing TravelAir

    and the launch of the Grace L Ferguson airline and Stormdoor compay. .

    ( re Bob Newhart )

    And for those whohave not visited the Boeing Red Barn – museum of flight – there is a display of fabric covered woooden wings being made by ladies sewing- while working for the Friday Harbour (storm door ) company.. Really !

  6. The 747-8F flew in 2010. The pictured aircraft, 747-8 passenger version didn’t fly until 2011.

  7. ILS is owned by Boeing and thus only sells Boeing parts.. come on. There’s hundreds of thousands of non Boeing pn’s on there. ILS is profitable itself, helps Boeing customers secure high parts availability and provides valuable intel (big data) to Aviall / Boeing spares.

  8. The 777F that someone pointed out as representing a “787” is not a 777F, it’s a 777-200LR, a passenger version.

    • Nothing new about the term “airbus”, the European consortium seems to have grabbed it by being bigger.

      Pacific Western Airlines used it for a shuttle service between Edmonton Municipal Airport (think London city airport) and Calgary.

      (You could buy a ticket on board, you were assured a seat if you just showed up. It was claimed that one flight carried only one passenger, though I speculate PW convinced quite a few people to dine and sleep at PW’s expense rather than drag a spare airplane from the hanger to accommodate an overload on last flight of the day.
      In the late 1970s the route was so popular that flights a half hour apart could not cope with demand at some times of day, so PW seriously considered using 767s.

      The 747SR was a high-density version for high-traffic routes in Japan, not really a different model.

  9. Some junior person made a mistake and it got caught by a bunch of star trek geeks, I mean aviation nerds. No need to make a federal case out of it.

  10. Can happen to the best.

    A friend of mine working for an aircraft manufacturer in southern France noticed the competition aircraft in the corporate picture library. Luckily only used internally until it got pulled.

  11. 1935 Picture of Model 299 is actually a B-17G. Wouldn’t you think that someone knowledgeable of Boeing’s History would proof these ads?

    • But But that person would have to be able to read two syllable words, and would cost an extra 2 dollars an hour. And besides- someone would have to explain that the B-17 was used to Bomb the Germans who were NOT on our side against Russia.

  12. Maybe the A321 is having an “assigned identity crisis” and identifies as a 737! It’s called “Trans-Airframe”

  13. Someone who does not know aircraft is getting paid to publish information they no or little knowledge about. Interesting?? No, bad management of information, personnel and resources which is made public and exposed.

  14. Pingback: APG 262 - Captain Rick Bell and Wings Over Pittsburgh - Airline Pilot Guy - Aviation Podcast

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