Richard Turen
Here are some offbeat news stories that you might have missed.
Chiang Mai, Thailand: Chiang Mai Breakfast World, a busy restaurant, is at the forefront of a new marketing idea that I think could soon be adopted by airlines throughout the U.S.
Before being seated in the restaurant, guests are invited to pass through a set of narrow bars similar to those you might see in a prison cell. The bars are set at different widths. Customers earn a discount on their bill of between 5% and 20% based on which set of bars they can squeeze through. The skinniest customers, passing through the narrowest bars, receive the maximum discount.
If airlines did this, those guests adding the least weight to an aircraft's total would pay the lowest price. That seems fair to me, and think of how much more entertaining the ticketing line might become.
London: This may be the biggest news story of them all: Heathrow's management has unveiled a plan to improve the airport experience dramatically.
The problem with departure areas, according to the best minds in Heathrow management, is that they are not actually creating a specific preflight experience. So a professional musician has been hired to pipe in "airport sounds" in the departure areas, including sounds of escalators, footsteps racing for a gate and planes taking off.
Heathrow's PR department claims these piped-in sounds will give travelers an even deeper airport experience and "preflight vibe." I expect airports around the globe to adopt this approach, leading to a more enjoyable and less stressful experience the next time my flight is delayed at Newark.
Copenhagen: Denmark may be the first country to actively pursue the fight against AI; this could change the internet as we know it.
The proposed legislation would strengthen the country's copyright laws by clamping down on deepfakes, empowering Danish citizens to demand the removal of unauthorized digital imitations that include images replicating a person's identity, fake audio and AI-produced fake videos. It will protect performances by artists in every field.
The proposal has widespread support among government officials, and the hope is that European countries will follow Denmark's lead.
Milan: Booking errors do occur from time to time. One of the most embarrassing examples occurred in Milan in June.
A British Airways crew of 12 could not be accommodated at the hotel commonly used for overnights in Milan, and operations found them an alternative.
At the last minute, they were assigned to the Motel Mo.om. On arrival, the tired crew realized that this was a "sex hotel" with hourly rates and rooms decorated as dungeons and other fantasy decor.
It was reported that no one in the flight crew slept well, due to a wide range of, ahem, noises.
Why they didn't just quickly book another hotel for the crew when the nature of the mistake was discovered is, as yet, unanswered. Perhaps no one complained.
Chongqing, China: Guests at the Lehe Ledu Liangjiang Hotel have been participants in the latest example of new hotel hospitality efforts.
Instead of a boring wake-up call, this hotel's service consisted of live red pandas being allowed into guestrooms where they could climb into the beds of sleeping guests to wake them up.
Of course, the service went viral. But what soon followed was criticism about animal safety and welfare. Experts pointed out that red pandas are unusually sensitive animals and encounters with unknown hotel guests in or out of their beds could cause unusual stress to the animals.
The hotel had to end this unique service.