When Brussels Airlines--the successor to the merged SN Brussels and Virgin Express--starts flying March 25, it will have a 14th dot on the stylized "b" that forms its logo.
Designer Ronane Hoet's original effort was criticized as unlucky in a barrage of e-mails and calls from superstitious customers in the United States and Italy. Brussels Airlines had the choice to go
to 12 dots or 14. It chose 14 because of the religious connotations of the 12 disciples.
Luckily, Brussels Airlines is not flying to China, where 14 is a definite no-no. Fourteen--or one-four in Mandarin--sounds like the the phrase "to want to die."