WestJet celebrates Christmas with joyful excess

Call me Scrooge, but this video that is going viral all over Canada doesn't warm my heart quite as much as it should:



Don't get me wrong. I actually really like the WestJet brand. It's an employee-owned airline, and the crews regularly sing, tell jokes, and do other fun things for the passengers. So surprising a flight with Christmas presents on arrival is totally on-strategy. (As is the Santa in their corporate indigo.)

The adman in me appreciates the concept, execution, and pure joy of this stunt. The part that bothers me a bit is the reinforcement of Christmas as a time to ask for — and receive — luxury goods from big box retailers. Yeah, sure, we all do it. But it would have been nice for the airline to give to people who really need things like food, shelter and company this winter. The best part of this promotion was when people wanted plane tickets home for the holidays. Now that's Christmas spirit!

On the lighter side, however, it's interesting to note that not everyone asked for big-ticket items. I wonder if the guy who asked for underpants was kicking himself later...

Turkish Airlines: Your ticket to a world of cartoonish national stereotypes

How many stereotypes can you fit into one ad campaign? By the looks of this Turkish Airlines one by McCann, Istanbul, the answer is "all of them".

Check out Africa's Cleopatra, Massai nomads, and sundry drummers; America's cowboys. Indians and Mountie (for Canada, one presumes); Europe's Vikings, Beefeaters and pizza guy; and Asia's Geishas, gods and Kayan neck-ring wearers:

It reminds me of the UN scene in Austin Powers.



Tip via Ads of The World

Fly the creepy skies with Richard Branson

In this bizarre little video, posted on VirginAmerica's YouTube page last week, CEO Richard Branson lets you know how much superior he is to you. He also suggests that a great way to get "lucky" during your long air flight by buying an unsolicited drink, snack, or even full meal for an attractive stranger in another seat:



How this was expected to be a good idea is beyond me.

Policymic's Elizabeth Plank recounts the horrific reality of being the recipient of unwanted sexual attention while trapped on a plane:

...the flight in which I experienced sexually harassment offered free alcoholic beverages. I was 19 and it was my first time flying alone. My harasser took advantage of the free booze policy (although he eventually ended up being cut-off by staff). He didn't need a "seat-to-seat delivery" to harass me. He didn't need the CEO of a flight company to make that process more convenient (and entirely acceptable). He was drunk and he felt entitled to me and my body. 

He touched my thighs. He touched my hair. He verbally harassed me. He sent me lewd notes while I tried to pretend to sleep in the hopes that he would just stop. Maybe if I closed my eyes, he would just disappear? He didn't. My disregard for him only made him more persistent. When I shouted at him to get him away from me, he told me I was overreacting. He said I was the crazy one.  

I had nowhere to go. I coudn't escape. I was 35,000 feet in the air and there was no exit. I was trapped. I was being stalked and my attacker was stuck to me like glue. There wasn't any other seats on the plane. He was so close to me that I could smell his intoxicated breath.

Welcome to Virgin America, the airline "dedicated to making flying good again"...

"Are you there, Twitter? It's me, @judyblume"

Ring a bell?

I just read about this bit of celebrity brand-bashing at The Consumerist.

While any dissatisfied customer with a Twitter account is bad news, pissing off a beloved author of frank and thought-provoking coming-of-age books with 76,054 devoted followers is even worse.

We'll have to wait and see if Delta figures this one out.

Kargo Kids: A segregated "VIP" section for kids on WestJet flights

From the press release:

WestJet today introduced Kargo Kids, an exciting new program allowing guests to travel on select child-free flights, creating a quieter and more relaxing inflight experience, while children travel in a "special VIP" area of the aircraft. 

"As Canada's low-cost airline, we are constantly looking for innovative and fun ways to enhance the guest experience," continued Richard Bartrem. "The initial feedback on Kargo Kids has been quite positive and we're looking forward to the peace and quiet while we get families where they need to be."

Thanks to Kelly for the tip :)

F'd Ad Fridays: Fly the friendly skies, undress the stewardess with your eyes

Copyranter posted this 1950s airline promotion that could in no way encourage sexual harassment of the flight attendants.

F'd Ad Fridays: Stalking the friendly skies with KLM

Image via Skyscanner

Last winter, Skyscanner reported on the popularity of “flyrting” — flirting with strangers onboard commercial flights — with a survey saying that 45% of respondents admitted to doing it.

Now, according to AdFreak, KLM is planning to launch a socially-enabled booking service service that will let solo travellers choose their seat mate by creeping that person in advance on Twitter or Facebook.

What could possibly go wrong?

Fly the way too "friendly" skies

Via BoingBoing

Public outcry against the U.S. Transport Security Administration's new "intimate" pat-downs has created a new meme —"don't touch my junk" — from the confrontation passenger John Tyner had with agents who he accused of sexual assault.



Taking the conversation further, activist organization Fly With Dignity has released these copyright-free images with a call for any interested or would-be art directors to make their own protest ads and sites:

Is it too much? Sociological Images, an academic site I follow, comments "Apparently when trying to make a point about being degraded or victimized, men don’t make suitable subjects."

This is a good point, as well as the fact that the style of the images almost fetishizes the woman's suffering, and thereby trivializes the experiences of assault victims.

How do they make you feel?

Personally, I prefer their approach to full-body scanners:

I had to submit to one of these scans for the first time just a couple of weeks ago. It was a little embarrassing, but I'll bet it was worse for the viewers than it was for me. At the same time, the scanners themselves have come under fire for their safety (from the pilots union) to privacy (over incidents of publicly leaked images).

My CATSA guy that day actually joked that I could see my pictures on YouTube that evening — thank God for his sense of humour!

However, next time I might return the favour by wearing a pair of these:

Via Animal New York

Update: Cancer Survivor Flight Attendant Forced To Show Prosthetic Breast During TSA Pat-Down

Update 2: "I didn’t really expect her to touch my vagina through my pants.” (I think — hope — that "vulva" is more anatomically correct, but anyway...)

Update 3: TSA Takes Nail Clippers From Gun-Toting Soldier

Update 4: TSA Molests 3 Year Old Child at Chattanooga Metro Airport

Update 5: Bladder cancer survivor was soaked by his own urine after a TSA agent broke the man's urostomy bag

Update 6: TSA Won't Grope [incoming U.S. House Speaker] John Boehner

Update 7: This is how Germans protest their country's body scanners (naked, obviously)

Update 8: Another amusing protest stunt: ‘Feminisnt’ Sex Worker Molests TSA Back

Update 9: Scientist: X-ray scanners deliver “20 times the average dose that is typically quoted by TSA.”

Update 10: On November 21, 2010, I was allowed to enter the U.S. through an airport security checkpoint without being x-rayed or touched by a TSA officer. This post explains how.

Update 11: TSA incalls on SNL: "It's our business to touch yours"

Update 12: Metallic ink on underpants makes U.S. 4th Constitutional Amendment (against unreasonable search and seizure) show up on your airport scan

Update 13: Work-travelling, breastmilk-pumping mom harrassed for wanting to bring her baby's dinner home on the plane. (video)

Squirrels are filthy little animals

AdFreak posted this campaign by Air New Zealand. It's part furry, part French stereotype, and all double entendre:





Don't forget, this is the airline that had its crews strip down to body paint last year. Is there something wrong with just trying to promote yourself with decent service and edible food?