Despite priding itself on being a challenger brand, JetBlue Airways has joined most other major U.S. airlines in offering a Basic Economy fare. Announced last year but officially launched today, the airline’s Basic Blue category is aimed at budget-conscious travelers who are willing to make a few compromises–though not as many as on some other…
Ahead of two days of congressional testimony from Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg, Boeing has taken out full-page ads in several newspapers. It’s among the first steps the airline manufacturer has taken to regain the public’s trust after its jet, the Boeing 737 Max 8, crashed twice within the year, killing 346 people and leading to…
On a late May day in 1979, an American Airlines flight lost its left engine during takeoff, forcing it to arc and roll before crashing in a field not far from its runway at Chicago O’Hare International Airport. All 273 people aboard were killed. Within two weeks, the Federal Aviation Administration grounded the plane, a…
After a troubled year with two crashes of its new 737 Max 8 aircraft, Boeing’s board of directors has stripped CEO Dennis Muilenburg of his position as chairman. Muilenburg will remain on as CEO of the company, focusing his efforts on returning the manufacturer’s beleaguered 737 Max 8 to safe service. The aircraft has been…
American Airlines announced today it plans to resume flights with the Boeing 737 Max in January. In a statement today, the company said it expects the beleaguered airplane, responsible for two crashes within the past year, to be back in its scheduled rotation by Jan. 16. “American Airlines anticipates that the impending software updates to…
KLM might be the “world’s oldest airline,” but judging from its digital presence, you wouldn’t know that. The company prefers to have a first-mover advantage when it comes to testing out new apps and technologies. Two years ago, it proclaimed to be the “first airline” with a verified WhatsApp business account, and it has its…
Following a spring and summer hamstrung by scandal, Boeing announced today that the families affected by the two 737 Max 8 crashes will each receive $144,500, according to Reuters. The crashes of Lion Air Flight 610 and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 have resulted in the deaths of 346 passengers and crew members. The plane has…
JetBlue has a new beverage partner in the sky, making the switch from Coca-Cola to PepsiCo this summer. The brands celebrated their partnership this week with an addition to the Queens skyline, with JetBlue’s logo joining the landmarked Pepsi-Cola sign that still lights up the Long Island City waterfront near the brand’s former bottling factory,…
When Vincent Peone arrived at the airport gate for his evening flight out of Aspen last week, something was off. The terminal was silent, eerily empty. He soon learned why. The Delta Diamond Medallion-status flyer–who claims to know a few airport bartenders by name–got to live the dream of every air traveler: having a plane…
Emirates Airlines recently upgraded Casey Neistat to first class. He filmed the experience, and it’s a nine-minute testament to obscene flying decadence.
Southwest Airlines jets back to the future in new work from GSD&M, revisiting its “Wanna Get Away” campaign, which flew off the radar almost a decade ago.
GSD&M developed the concept for Southwest in 1998, and the tagline propelled a series of ads that ran for the next 10 years. Lest anyone forget, the original spots presented folks seeking to escape from all manner of comically embarrassing situations.
If you think C-suiters are pompous and obnoxious when they’re stone-cold sober with their feet on the ground, imagine how they’d carry on after loosening up with a few Heinekens on draught while cruising at 35,000 feet.
Actually, you don’t have to imagine. Just check out this clip from DDB & Tribal Amsterdam, which heralds the arrival of a fancy trolley that dispenses Heineken draught beers aboard select KLM World Business Class flights:
To some extent, all brands seek to define themselves in ads. Airline KLM, however, takes this process to a reductive extreme in new work from agency Mustache, letting prospective passengers know that it is, in fact, more than anything else … an airline.
After 13 years playing for the Boston Red Sox, David Ortiz will retire at the end of the 2016 baseball season. And he’s contemplating some unusual plans for his next career.
In a thank-you ad from Red Sox sponsor JetBlue, the designated hitter and nine-time All Star finds work at different children’s birthday parties—whacking the literal stuffing out of their piñatas.
Imagine if you could explore Europe’s greatest cities without having to constantly look down at your phone to make sure you’re on course to your next destination.
U.K.-based regional airline easyJet is trying to solve that problem, at least in theory, with a new pair of internet-connected sneakers that signal to wearers when to turn left or right by vibrating underneath the respective foot. This way, sightseers’ heads can stay up, taking in the surroundings while they walk, without losing their way.
“Borders. Has anything good ever come of them?” asks a voiceover in the spot below, as gray-scale images of walls, fences and “No Trespassing” signs speed past.
“Separation? Limits? I’ve seen as many as mankind has been able to create. Invisible borders. Human ones. Between men and women. Between the thin and the fat. Between those who make decisions and those who abide by them.”
At first, it feels like a social-issues PSA, with moody footage of traffic jams, military parades, riots and even a grade-school bathroom “swirly” tossed in for good measure. Actually, it’s a commercial for a leading brand in Mexico, whose identity isn’t revealed until the final seconds of the riveting minute-long ad:
Here’s a fun spot from earlier this year that picked up a silver Lion at Cannes last week. For S7 Airlines from Wieden + Kennedy Amsterdam, it features cute kids being themselves, namely by describing wonderful places or things they’d like to visit, but are also impossible … or so they think.
Asked to let their imaginations run wild, the kids cook up with flight destinations that, if they had their way, would feature mammoths, mermaids, space rockets, giant sandpits, superheroes, dragons, wizards, bogeyman, a space kitty (Nyan Cat?) and subterranean cities. (It’s not clear if she’s thinking of Demolition Man, The Matrix or Twelve Monkeys, but she doesn’t seem to have dystopian tendencies at all.) There would also be underground whales and, says the smartest kid by far, chocolate lakes.
Relaying on the charming ad-libs of kids is a familiar trick, reminiscent of past ads like Wes Anderson’s animated interview with an 8-year-old on the inner workings of a Sony smartphone (though it probably also owes a decent amount to the Fine Brothers “Kids React” series, as well).
But the W+K sequence is exceptionally well edited, and features a twist that anchors it nicely in the brand. All the fantastical things and places—or approximations of them—actually do exist, if you allow some creative interpretation of reality.
Sure, the ad’s reach exceeds its grasp ever so slightly, and might particular bother literalist viewers. But it really does distill what the spirit of travel can be at its best—an eye-opening, awe-inspiring experience that unlocks natural and manmade wonders. And beyond the stunning landscapes, some of the translations are particularly spectacular—Space Kitty, it turns out, is actually a yak, and underground whales are geysers.
In fact, the only real dubious one is that brown bubbling “chocolate” lake. If what you really want is fondue, you’re better off staying home and dropping a few Hershey bars into a pot.
Traveling constantly for work can suck, and Delta wants you to know it understands.
A new ad from Wieden + Kennedy New York tackles that familiar trope, as a drone of a man trudges through relatable little first-world indignities—the electronic keycard to his hotel room not working, getting lost going for a run in foreign streets, ironing a tie he’s still wearing (but wait … isn’t that how everybody does it at home, too?).
The whole spot hangs on the pensive singsong 1970 recording “Love You” by pop group The Free Design (also, how Suzanne Vega’s 1987 classic “Tom’s Diner” might sound if it were a nursery rhyme). The track is hypnotizing, if maybe a little preachy or misleading, implying the sad sack should be better enjoying his surroundings, some of which are stunning.
He does make the most of his suffering … maybe? To some degree? Looking at the views? Talking to people? Eating different foods? But mostly his face says it’s a lonely, alienating and exhausting trek.
The creatives also might peek through the curtain a little (sick of leaving loved ones behind to go on shoots?), but it doesn’t really matter. The images are generic enough examples of business travel that the guy could just as easily be in plastics.
Eventually, he makes it to a safe haven … the plane.
“It’s not home, but with every well-considered detail, it becomes one step closer,” says the voiceover. True as that may be, it certainly puts a positive spin on the situation, given that yet another intercontinental flight might actually end up being the least comfortable part of the whole ordeal.
CREDITS
Client: Delta Air Lines
Project: “On the Road”
Agency: Wieden + Kennedy, New York
Executive Creative Directors: Susan Hoffman and David Kolbusz
Creative Directors: Sean McLaughlin and John Parker
Copywriter: Eric Helin + Jean Sharkey
Art Director: Mathieu Zarbatany + Devin Sharkey
Head of Content Production: Nick Setounski
Broadcast Producer: Cheryl Warbrook + Helen Park
Brand Strategist: Meranne Behrends + Sam Matthews
Account Team: Liz Taylor, Meghan Mullen, Jasmina Almeda
Business Affairs: Sara Jagielski, Keri Rommel, Sonia Bisono, Rylee Millerd
Production Company: Epoch
Director: Martin de Thurah
Managing Director: Mindy Goldberg
Executive Producer: Melissa Culligan
Head of Production: Megan Murphreee
Producer: Michaela Johnson
Production Supervisor: Terry Gallagher
Editorial Company: Rock Paper Scissors
Editor: Mikkel Nielsen
Executive Producer: Eve Kornblum
Post Producer: Jen Milano
Post Executive Producer:
Editorial Assistant: Misha Kozlov
VFX Company: The Mill
VFX Lead Flame: Nathan Kane
Colorist: Fergus McCall
VFX Flame Artists: Krissy Nordella, Ben Kwok, and Jamin Clutcher
VFX CG Artists:
Producer: Colin Moneymaker
Sound Studio: Sonic Union
Sound mixer: Steve Rosen / Fernando Ascani
Producer: Melissa Tanzer + Justine Cortale
WestJet does the holidays right. Last year, the Canadian airline surprised its passengers with gifts at the baggage carousel; a lovely spot and a tearjerker for sure. Now WestJet has me sniffling yet again, this time with surprises for residents of a village in the Dominican Republic.
Families sit in a blue sleigh, talking to Santa via video chat, telling him what they want for Christmas. WestJet employees then race to buy gifts (locally!), and present them at a party on the beach (with snow). This time, the gifts aren’t just flat-screen TVs and cameras; they also include practical and much-needed items like a washing machine, a motorcycle engine and a horse—enabling locals in the community of Nuevo Renacer to provide for their families. WestJet even built a small playground for the local children to use long after the visit was over.
It’s lovely and endearing, and for those who will say this is simply a calculated marketing tactic, shhh shhhhh, just enjoy it and let the brand have its moment. Pluses to note, I think, are that this “stunt” happened in a country where WestJet isn’t readily available (unlike Canada), and that their local purchases helped support the area’s economy.
Ahh, WestJet, I love you. Now send me tissues.
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, which warmed heart-cockles recently with its lost-and-found beagle, delivers another winner by listing a “Spacious Airplane Apartment” on Airbnb.
Yes, they turned an airplane parked at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam into an apartment with two bedrooms, multiple bathrooms, Wi-Fi and a panoramic view from the cockpit. Pretty sweet, right? It’s the closest any of us can come to being Elvis without abusing Percodan. (It’s also a step up from Airbnb’s Ikea listing.)
“On November 28, 29 or 30, you have the chance to spend the night inside this fly apartment. Tell us before November 20 why you would like to spend the night. We’ll fly in the winners from anywhere in the world,” the listing says.
Unfortunately, KLM stomped on this raging fire of awesome with some seriously bogus house rules, including “no marshmallow roasting with the jet engines” (lame), “the consumption of alcohol is not allowed” (lamer), “no flying” (OK, that one makes sense) and worst of all, “don’t use the inflatable emergency slide.”
Whatever, KLM. If I didn’t want to use an inflatable emergency slide, I would stay in a building like a normal person.
Via Design Taxi. More photos below.
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
