Do we want JetBlue joking around?

Anyone notice that JetBlue commercial that’s been running lately? You know, the one that features tongue-in-cheek interviews with JetBlue employees about customer service? It’s a mockumentary-type spot that tells TV viewers how JetBlue can “make your trip as easy as possible.” Employees talk with deadpan, no-frills honesty about how they help get customers get where they’re going. “When the plane is ready to board, I usually say something like, ‘The plane is ready to board.’ ” Another says, “A lot of people ask me what gate they are leaving from, so I tell them.” I appreciate the attempt to lend humor to airline advertising, and the tone works wonderfully for JetBlue’s alterna-air personality. But the timing seems awfully unusual to me. Consider the opening line: “We take off, fly around for a while, and then we land. Somewhere else.” The spot was on air last week, hours after a New York-bound JetBlue flight was stuck circling around Southern California with malfunctioning landing gear. A day later, another JetBlue plane had problems with its wing flaps. Will consumers ignore the irony, or will they see it as validation that JetBlue is not a serious airline? I’ve flown JetBlue many times, and as much as I love the blue chips and the DirecTV, when it comes to flying, I’ll take boring over buffoonery.

—Posted by Eleftheria Parpis

September 30, 2005 in Parpis | Permalink