Fly the Branded Skies

[sc_embed_player fileurl=”http://brandedskies.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/watchusshine.mp3″ title=”National Airlines: “Watch Us Shine””]

If there’s one thing airline jingles are selling, it’s pride.

Most jingles, I think, evince a grandeur disproportionate to their subjects. But the songs of airline advertising are not mere jingles. They are anthems worthy of companies that dare slip the surly bonds of earth and touch the face of God.

Whether this is a good way to sell tickets is another question.

All jingles contain the brand name sung in some interesting, memorable way. Airlines sing their names a little differently; not “American Airlines,” but “We’re American Airlines.” “We’re Eastern.” “We’re Braniff.” “We are Canadian.”

“We’re National, the Sunshine Airline.”

This jingle is all about pride. It doesn’t talk about service, at least not in any specific way. It doesn’t promise on-time arrivals or frequent flights, low fares or a vast route map. It just says National is better. Is that enough?

I’m not sure. I do like this jingle quite a lot. It’s got a catchy tune, written by Charles Calello, an arranger with more than a hundred Billboard 100 hits. The lyrics aren’t terrible, by jingle standards. And I like that the tagline — “watch us shine” — plays both on the airline’s great logo (the Sun King) and, more subtly, on the airline’s roots in Florida, the Sunshine State.

But do airline passengers really take an airline’s pride into consideration when they buy their tickets? Certainly not today. Perhaps not even in 1977. I’ve written before about the value of an airline’s advertising in motivating employees. Indeed, the reason I can find most of these jingles on vinyl is because airlines distributed them to their workers. Pride can be good.

It’s simply insufficient. Airlines use pride in their advertising at their peril if the actual experience for passengers doesn’t back it up. The annals of airline history are full of carriers flying proudly into bankruptcy, their advertising painfully out of step with reality. The line between pride and arrogance is terribly thin.

Update, 17 November 2012: This 30-minute film by National Airlines launched along with the campaign and features, at about 22:25, a segment on advertising, including one of the spots from the campaign.

Airline: National Airlines
Title: “Watch Us Shine”
Agency: Ted Bates & Co., New York
Written By: Charles Calello (music), Ginny Redington (lyrics)
Year: 1977

Lyrics

Sure as the sun keeps rising
We keep on rising too.
To meet the challenge of your day
And warm the way for you.
We give you the feel of sunshine
Our own special kind.
We’re National, the Sunshine Airline.
Watch us shine, watch us shine.

We’re National, the Sunshine Airline.
Watch us shine, watch us shine.
We’re the Sunshine Airline.
Watch us shine.

Every face is bright and friendly.
Every job is done with pride.
National means flying on the sunny side.

Watch us shine
When you want someone to help
You on your way.
Flying can be a pleasure.
National proves it every day.

Watch us shine.
Making time to do the special little things.
We take a friendly smile and give it wings.

We’re National, the Sunshine Airline.
Watch us shine, watch us shine.
We’re the Sunshin Airline.
Watch us shine, watch us shine.

Watch us shine.
Giving people our special kind of care.
We’ve got the best thing
Going in the air.

Watch us shine
As we show the world the best is not enough.
No other airline out there has a
Better team than us.

We’re National , the Sunshine Airline.
Watch us shine, watch us shine.
We’re the Sunshine Airline, watch us shine.
We’re National, the Sunshine Airline.
Watch us shine, watch us shine.
We’re the Sunshine Airline.
Watch us shine. Watch us shine. Watch us shine.

January 19th, 2012 \ Posted in Jingles \ 2 Comments »