This trivial thread actually brought some enlightenment to me. You and some other posters above mentioned that airlines with 2 cabin classes on international flights want people to think that they're flying first class, so the pax think it's better than a 3-class carrier's business class.

CO's BusinessFIRST service
DL's Business Elite
AC's ExecutiveFIRST

Now I remember that at the time these business class cabins were re-branded, the pitch and recline of the seat was better than a 3-class carrier's business class.

So it's MARKETING! And it worked on my naive friend.