Plane-crush napkins pulled off Delta flights

Falling in love on an airplane is the kind of story you only ever hear in a bar or see in a Lifetime movie. But for a brief time this winter, Delta Air Lines wanted to help passengers make it a reality — by gently nudging them to hit on other passengers. With cocktail napkins. “Be a little old school,” said the small print on the napkin, advertising Diet Coke. “Write down your number & give it to your plane crush. You never know ...”

There was a little space on the napkin where flirtatious passengers could write down their name and another space for their number. The larger print said “because you’re on a plane full of interesting people and hey,” again, “... you never know.”

Some found the napkins clever and charming, but others thought they were creepy. Evidently enough complained that Delta and Coca-cola apologized for the marketing stunt Wednesday, saying the napkins have since been removed.

“We rotate Coke products regularly as part of our brand partnership, but missed the mark with this one,” Delta said in a statement. “We are sorry for that and began removing the napkins from our aircraft in January.”

“We sincerely apologize to anyone we may have offended,” Coca-cola said in its statement.

Passengers began complaining about the napkins on social media in January, though it’s unclear when exactly the flights began using them. One passenger wrote Jan. 21: “Pretty sure no one appreciated unsolicited phone numbers in the ‘good old days’ and they sure as heck don’t want the number of someone who has been gawking at them on a plane for hours today. Not a good look.” Others argued the napkins “encourage affairs” or were “unintentionally creepy.”