In one of the strangest examples of the Chinese menu approach United and Continental are taking to their new brand, the new company will keep using George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue as its theme music. United first licensed Rhapsody in Blue in 1987 for $300,000 a year.
That’s quite a bit of money to spend on music. Yet United has invested even more in attaching Rhapsody in Blue to its brand. You hear it in commercials, on the plane, in airports; one company says it has created more than 50 different versions of the piece in genres ranging from jazz to rock to country. Rhapsody in Blue is as integral to United’s brand as its tulip logo designed by Saul Bass.
Which is funny, because of course that tulip logo is on the way out while Rhapsody in Blue remains. Read more
Some of the best parts of Airliners International 2010, apart from everything else, were the tours. One of them was a tour of Continental Airlines’ maintenance facility at Newark.
I don’t know anything about airplanes, really, and most of the tour sailed way over my head. But I did take some pictures, since I don’t think I’ll have a similar opportunity any time soon. So if you see these pictures and you know anything about them, post something in the comments!
When I was a kid, we’d always have to get to the airport early on family vacations so I could visit all the various airline check-in counters and get some loot. In those days, every counter at least offered timetables and luggage tags, and most offered much more. The best ones had junior wings.
Years passed. I found a set of Pan Am wings at a gift shop once, but otherwise, that was the end of my collection of wings. Until I realized something that 10-year-old Cameron would never have imagined:
Every kind of advertising has—well, let’s call them “conventions.” Airline advertising is no different. This is part of a series of posts on the clichés of airline advertising.
There’s an old joke that, when faced with creating advertising, the British crack a joke, the French get naked, and Americans sing.
If that introduction got your hopes up that this post would be full of jokes, or, even better, naked people, I’m sorry to disappoint. No, this post is about singing—something airlines used to do it a lot.
Today, a song in a commercial is far more likely to be licensed than commissioned. But there was a time when jingles were very popular, and no category used them more often than airlines. In fact, airlines may have elevated the jingle to its greatest heights. This one (by Leo Burnett / song credits) is liable to get stuck in your head:
Every kind of advertising has—well, let’s call them “conventions.” Airline advertising is no different. This is part of a series of posts on the clichés of airline advertising.
So relaxing. So reassuring. So predictable. It’s just not a real airline ad unless it finishes with an airplane flying off into the sunset—or, in the case of Eastern Air Lines, flying directly at the camera from the sun. Hey, if your tagline is “The Wings of Man,” you’ve clearly got chutzpah to spare. The clips in this video span decades and this cliché shows no signs of going away. The only difference is now the sunsets are computer generated. Read more
“Airlines are an ego-driven business,” according to airline analyst Robert Mann. “I joke, but only partly, that the three biggest issues in airline consolidation are: What are we going to call it? Where is it going to be based? And who is going to run it?”
It makes sense. If not for ego, why would anyone go into the airline business? To make money? You’d be better off stuffing your money under a mattress. And then setting the mattress on fire.
In any event, the parties to the merger of United and Continental have been careful to treat egos on both sides of the deal equitably. The combined company will be based in Chicago, United’s hometown, but will be led by Continental’s CEO. And it will pair the United name with Continental’s logo, livery, and colours.
You have to wonder how close we were to an airline with Continental’s name and United’s logo. Did they flip a coin? Surely there were no high-priced brand consultants involved. The decision was made in a board room. Then they sent one of the lawyers out to mock up a picture of the new plane in Photoshop.
It remains to be seen how long this arrangement will last. The Continental identity is already nearly twenty years old and looking a bit dated—there may be a redesign in the combined airline’s future.
In one of the strangest examples of the Chinese menu approach United and Continental are taking to their new brand, the new company will keep using George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue as its theme music. United first licensed Rhapsody in Blue in 1987 for $300,000 a year.
