In attempting to satiate my increasing addiction to Digg, I came upon this website for an airline-in-waiting created by a German entrepreneur to cater to the smoking traveller.

Now, I'm not a smoker. And while I believe sufficient evidence exists to unequivocally demonstrate that smoking can kill you and, worse, harm those around you, if said smokers elect to imperil themselves amid the luxury trappings of a flying coffin between Dusseldorf and Tokyo, then who am I to tell them what they can or cannot do (unless, of course, they're bringing children along with them, then all bets - in my view - are off).

But from a purely communications perspective, I would wish to make a few suggestions:

If Smintair's market research demonstrates that demand does exist for such a service as this, then would it not make sense to simply identify that a solution exists, articulate the value of that solution, and provide an appropriate call-to-action (ie. book, invest, advertise etc.)? But to use the site (and whatever other communications channels these folks are using) as a vehicle to grandstand against decades of widely-accepted scientific research is, in my view, folly and can only have an adverse impact on the credibility this company is trying to build - around its business model and its people - in order to succeed. I would imagine that most of the smokers who could afford the 7000-10000 Euro price-tag most likely already understand and accept the risks, but simply seek to ignore them.

More importantly, associating anything with Nazism just can't be good for business.

Rather, where Mr. Schoppmann should focus his communications efforts is on emphasizing the company's commitment to safety, quality of service, and on-time arrival and departure.

Interestingly, according to a recent CNBC interview, non-smokers have also expressed interest in this service, though for the life of me I can't imagine why. I would take wailing infants and stinky toe jam over smoking (though barely) any day.