JetBlue has gift ideas for non-JetBlue fliers
Traditional agencies are far more likely to messenger me things than digital shops are. Maybe it's the bigger budgets, or the belief in old-school delivery channels. It also helps if you're off an account and don't care about the courier fees. JWT sent over a new six-page glossy fake holiday catalog it made for JetBlue, filled with products it supposedly created to help you cope with flying on other airlines. The 14 products include leather in a jar, for those uncomfortable cloth seats; a knee-jockey apparatus, to make up for the lack of legroom; depth goggles (above), to make the seat in front of you seem father away; and the Yumbro robot, to dispense snacks you won't be given for free. The catalog is also on the JetBlue Facebook page. If you try to buy a product, the page tells you it's out of stock due to high demand and gives you the option of going to JetBlue.com instead. —Posted by Brian Morrissey |
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Published on December 9, 2009 | Permalink
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Spirit Airlines' latest ad mocks Tiger Woods
The always-classy Spirit Airlines is striking while the iron is hot and holding an "Eye of the Tiger" fare sale—which it's advertising online with a cheesy Flash animation of a tiger driving into a fire hydrant. "It's a jungle out there!" says the copy. "Make sure you avoid all the obstacles and get the lowest fares." The carrier hasn't been this inspired since holding its "Many Islands, Low Fares" (MILF) sale a couple of years ago. —Posted by Tim Nudd Previously on AdFreak: |
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Published on December 2, 2009 | Permalink
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Alaska Air chases the gold with Apolo Ohno
"Stewardess, there's something outside the plane! It could be a gremlin, but it sort of looks like Dancing With the Stars winner and champion speed skater Apolo Ohno!" WongDoody's "Follow Apolo" campaign for Alaska Airlines features a plane wrapped in Ohno's image, billboards, banner ads and a Web site, as the carrier sponsors the skater's quest for Olympic gold this winter. They should work Bill Shatner into this. His histrionic yet credible Twilight Zone freakout over a destructive creature on an airplane wing is legendary. It'd be sweet to watch the big ham chew the scenery and hyper-annunciate lines like, "Good Lord! It's ... Apolo ... Oh-NO!" —Posted by David Gianatasio Previously on AdFreak: |
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Published on November 18, 2009 | Permalink
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Air New Zealand testing ad ideas on Twitter
So, you've made some travel ads that blatantly mock the destinations you're promoting, and possibly Christianity as well. How do you know if you've crossed the line? Why, just ask Twitter! Air New Zealand has posted six potential ads on Twitpic, the service that lets you share images on Twitter. The 9,000 followers of @grabaseat were asked to "tell us what you think of these new ads." (You can read more about the campaign in the New Zealand Herald.) The responses have been mixed, with vague criticisms mixed in alongside actual constructive feedback. It's a commendable way to get easy input on ads before they launch more broadly, but I'm a bit surprised Air New Zealand would be ones for caution, seeing as how their flight crews are frequently naked and slathered in paint. —Posted by David Griner See also: |
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Published on September 2, 2009 | Permalink
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American Airlines has always dug squirrels!Squirrels are hot again, thanks to the now-famous photo above, taken with an automatic timer, of Melissa Brandts and her husband—and a sudden rodent interloper—posing by a lake in Canada's Banff National Park. Now, American Airlines is citing the photo as a reason to re-air the spot below, which first ran in the spring, featuring an annoying director making an ad about Parisian squirrels who ride bikes. And they're not just bringing the ad back. The airline has also sent out a goofy press release that says it's launching an "investigation" into the identity of the Banff squirrel. "With the 'scene-stealing squirrel' phenomenon sweeping the digital world, American Airlines is determining whether the rodent is, in fact, the same squirrel that appeared in its recent TV commercial," the memo says. Evp of marketing Dan Garton is then made to say embarrassing things like, "There were signs that he might be a bit of a publicity hound—well, rodent." Bill Oakley, ecd at TM Advertising, is forced to add: "We're not sure of the actual nationality of said squirrel—not sure whether he’s French at all. ... Since he popped up in Banff, maybe he's Canadian." Seems a bit much. In any case, American aren't the only ones trying to capitalize. Banff and Lake Louise Tourism has already set up squirrel accounts on Facebook and Twitter. |
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Published on August 26, 2009 | Permalink
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Air New Zealand also does long-form nudity
Last month, we posted the 45-second Air New Zealand spot that shows the carrier's employees naked, with painted-on uniforms, to emphasize that they have "Nothing to hide" (at least in terms of hidden fares). Today, The New York Times points out that the campaign also includes the three-and-a-half-minute on-board safety video above, which likely gets more attention than most presentations of its kind. It's still not clear that being nude improves the flying experience, but Air New Zealand is at least filling the void left by Naked-Air, whose first flight in 2003 was also its last. |
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Published on June 30, 2009 | Permalink
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Ryanair scraps ad with Spain's Queen Sofia
Low-cost airline Ryanair recently ran afoul of the Queen of Spain, who is no fan of the "cheeky celebrity exploitation ads" that are Ryanair's specialty. After Queen Sofia booked a £13 Ryanair flight to England to see her sick brother, the airline launched an ad campaign in Spain showing Sofia over the slogan, "Fly like a monarch." The implied joke is that she's cheap. A spokesperson for the Queen accused the carrier of "making improper use of the Queen's image," and probably came within a breath of announcing, "We are not amused." Ryanair has also lost face (and occasionally money) over the unauthorized images of the Spanish prime minister, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, and the president of France, Nicolas Sarkozy. They should really stop this whole nonsense, or at least go after Italy, where no political leaders are in power long enough to get offended. |
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Published on June 10, 2009 | Permalink
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Southwest thumbs its nose at the recession
Southwest Airlines is done living in the past! Its new ads tell people to get their bags, because "it's on." Normally, "it" can't be "on" unless someone gets served first. But Southwest marketing bigwig Dave Ridley ignores that and encourages travelers to "put the challenges and difficulties of the past year behind and get going." In other words, don't let your dire financial straits prevent you from taking an ill-advised long-distance vacation. It's convenient that they're suddenly casting financial concerns to the wind, as these new ads replace the "No hidden fees" spots, which would be less effective now that Southwest has just introduced new fees of its own, for pets and unaccompanied minors. (That might be part of the past in which Southwest no longer wishes to live.) But this new plucky attitude is actually refreshing when every other brand in existence is scrambling to appear recession-friendly. That genial pessimism gets a little tiring en masse, so seeing a company with its chin up is a nice change of pace. |
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Published on June 3, 2009 | Permalink
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Air New Zealand employees strip for new ad
Air New Zealand claims it has nothing to hide. This extends from its ticket prices to its unusual decision, as seen in the ad above, to paint uniforms on its employees rather than have them wear clothes. And unlike Intel, they used actual employees—more than 90 of them for the campaign, apparently, including eight who got stripped and painted. The airline's CEO, Rob Fyfe, was one of the eight—he's the silver-haired guy loading the bags on to the plane. The passengers all react surprisingly well to the naked people, even when they're serving food and drinks. It's a good thing Air New Zealand has such an attractive workforce. A campaign like this would be problematic if, say, Dunkin' Donuts tried it. |
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Published on May 18, 2009 | Permalink
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Can anything make an AirTran flight better?
Cramer-Krasselt's latest campaign for AirTran focuses on phony brainstorming sessions at Mindflow Consulting, supposedly hired to figure out "what AirTran should put on every flight." The two actors work hard in the 15-second clips to elevate the stale-feeling material, and for the most part they do OK, with decent comic timing, delivery and chemistry. They'd be well cast as workmates in a sitcom—perhaps Trust Me would have been better with these two. Some of their discarded brainstormed suggestions—haircuts, Xboxes, Belgian waffles, history lectures—don't sound so implausible, and would go a long way toward reliving the tedium of circling O'Hare for three hours on a foggy night. And they shouldn't discard the notion of balloon animals so fast—a plush variation's been popular on Carnival Cruises for years. —Posted by David Gianatasio |
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Published on May 12, 2009 | Permalink
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Alaska Airlines spots stuck in the bathroom
WongDoody takes an odd tack for Alaska Airlines in the spot above, set in an airport men's room, with a flustered patron battling malfunctioning automated technology. When flying, airport restrooms are usually the least of one's worries, unless a U.S. senator happens to be lurking in the next stall. And that "butt shot" at the end (the guy has resorted to wiping his hands on the back of his pants) is patently unappealing. The ad below shows airline personnel changing a guy's seat so he doesn't have to sit next to an obnoxious fellow passenger chattering on a cell phone. I say, go with the devil you know. Cell boy just has verbal diarrhea. By changing seats, you could end up wedged against someone with the real thing, or a colicky kid prone to spitting up. Or Sarah Palin. Worst of all, no matter who he sits next to, he may wind up in Alaska! I assume he's heading to the 49th state. If he were returning, he'd be so glad to be leaving that moose-infested wasteland that seating assignments wouldn't matter. —Posted by David Gianatasio |
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Published on April 13, 2009 | Permalink
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Kevin Spacey flies American, never RyanairKevin Spacey is the new face of American Airlines over in the U.K., and the carrier is already getting its money's worth out of him. The actor appears in three new spots from McCann Erickson, including the one above, directed by Michel Gondry, in which he searches for the perfect seat—beginning at the Old Vic theater (where he's been artistic director since 2003) and eventually settling into an American business-class lounger. The airline claims this is Spacey's first on-screen appearance in an ad campaign, though he has done voiceover work before. The two-time Oscar winner (for The Usual Suspects and American Beauty) also appears to be working overtime for the company. The video below, from the Financial Times ArcelorMittal Boldness in Business Awards, held in London last Thursday, shows Spacey announcing an award for Ryanair, which he then ridicules when it becomes clear no one from the Irish carrier has shown up. |
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Published on March 24, 2009 | Permalink
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JetBlue assuring CEOs that everything's OK
Back in February, JetBlue ran some print ads poking fun at auto-industry execs and other bigwigs who might want to rethink flying their private jets to Washington. The ads were well-received, and now they've expanded the campaign online with The CEO's Guide to Jetting, which unfortunately only contains three amusing videos: the one above, plus these two others. Delightfully snarky lines like, "JetBlue can get you to many cities where you already own homes or hide money!" and "It's easier than writing off a toxic asset!" are courtesy of JWT. They've also got some great online ad buys going. The CEO's Guide to Jetting was my pre-roll ad right before my CNN video titled, "AIG Continues to Enrage." I refreshed to see if it would appear before the video every time and got an ad for Fellows 100% Jam Proof Shedders. I love these ultra-targeted ad buys. Good job, JetBlue, and good timing. Way to turn the nation's unbridled hostility toward the rich to your advantage. Your advertising-fu is so strong that I would totally commit to flying JetBlue if I didn't choose my airlines based entirely on price. —Posted by Rebecca Cullers |
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Published on March 19, 2009 | Permalink
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Spirit flight attendants despise apron logos
Spirit Airlines, which has courted controversy in the past with its "Many Islands, Low Fares" (MILF) ad campaign, is stirring the pot yet again by putting Bud Light logos on its flight attendants' uniforms. Critics of this new measure—many of whom are Spirit flight attendants themselves—claim that, in addition to turning them into "walking billboards," the logos make everyone's job harder by encouraging in-flight drunkenness. Spirit has turned a deaf ear to their concerns, mainly because they've gone too far to stop selling out now. With the overhead bins, tray tables, ticket jackets, cups, napkins and boarding passes auctioned off to various sponsors, there isn't much ad space left. And while this promotional tactic is certainly coarse, people who get loaded on airplanes usually plan on doing so before the beverage cart comes around. |
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Published on January 29, 2009 | Permalink
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With Linear Air, the whole world's a runway
Dave: I thought my flight last week was crazy, but that was nothing compared with my ride today on one of Linear Air's luxury Cessna Grand Caravan prop jets. Wow! Your ads from Rattle promised that if I flew Linear point-to-point, I'd be home in time for my own private wine tasting. And we landed on the street right in front of my house! Well, not my house. In fact, I don't even recognize the neighborhood. —Posted by David Gianatasio |
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Published on October 2, 2008 | Permalink
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Spirit Airlines brings the paradise on board
Dave: Oh my god! Stewardess! Judging by that sun-kissed, palm-draped scenery outside the windows of this airplane, we're heading toward tropical climes. Looks like the Bahamas! But I have to be in Pittsburgh for a meeting! Oh wait, I get it. Those sandy beaches, that azure sky—it's all part of Arnold's nifty campaign for the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism, the one where they decorate the inside of the plane. Phew! I was worried. —Posted by David Gianatasio |
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Published on September 26, 2008 | Permalink
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Vintage airline ads take sexism to the skies
With so much talk of sexism this year, it can be heartening to look back and see how far we've progressed as a nation. I'd recommend starting with Travel + Leisure's collection of 10 funny vintage airline commercials. There's the song-and-dance number about why a businessman should bring his "little cutie" along when he flies United. Then there's the striptease from Braniff International, which believed that "even an airline hostess should look like a girl." Or check out the National Airlines "Go Go Miami" spot, which I admit isn't really sexist so much as it is just plain baffling. Hat tip to Adverganza. —Posted by David Griner |
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Published on September 25, 2008 | Permalink
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Southwest attacks creepy, two-faced rivals
Air travel was already difficult, but it's only getting worse. This odd Southwest Airlines commercial suggests that rival carriers are now hiring creepy Jekyll-and-Hyde freak-show monsters who are literally two-faced—offering great-looking airfares on the one hand but with all sorts of added costs on the other. Actually, the clerk never shows her hands, which is probably a good thing, and it's also not clear how her elbows bend, or if she can even use her computer to check you in. In the back, they probably have this Kodak dog sniffing your bags. —Posted by Tim Nudd |
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Published on September 19, 2008 | Permalink
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Nike getting ad tips from Spirit Airlines
—Posted by Tim Nudd |
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Published on August 31, 2006 | Permalink
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Spirit Airlines not selling actual mullets
—Posted by Tim Nudd |
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Published on August 29, 2006 | Permalink
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