Fly the Branded Skies

 

Jingle: Braniff “You’ll Like Flying Braniff Style” (1971)

You'll like flying Braniff style.

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It took me a few plays to realize this isn’t an original song.

It should’ve been obvious from the first line of the lyrics. But the Braniff version of “Everybody’s Talkin'” is so different from the original, I didn’t recognize it at first. While the original is quiet and introverted—the story of a man who wants to retreat from the world—Braniff’s version is loud, outgoing, and brassy. A folk song becomes psychedelic rock.

Would you really expect anything less from Braniff?

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Airlines at the 2012 Games

British Airways Firefly livery for the 2012 Olympics

The Summer Olympics kicked off in London on Friday, so it’s time for Fly the Branded Skies to celebrate the true meaning of the Olympic spirit: corporate sponsorship. Here’s what some of the airlines sponsoring the games are up to. I’ll update this post as I find more.   Read more

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Qantas has selected Droga5 as its new creative agency, according to AdAge, after a pitch that reportedly took ten months to unfold. The account will be handled from the agency’s Sydney office.

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The list of finalists in the Southwest Airlines review is down to four, according to Adweek: Arnold, Boston; TBWA\Chiat\Day in Los Angeles; Leo Burnett in Chicago; and Deutsch in Los Angeles. A selection could come as soon as next week. No matter what happens, GSD&M will continue to hold a piece of the account—but it is telling that they are not finalists in this pitch, even though they were invited to participate.

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The oneworld alliance has chosen Dentsu America as its advertising agency of record after a review. Dentsu’s U.S. outpost also holds the account for Japan Airlines, a oneworld member.

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Virgin Atlantic is branding the ice cubes in its Upper Class cabin… by carving them in the shape of Richard Branson’s head.

Jingle: Republic “Gotten Together” (1979)


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Airline mergers are ugly. With a capital Ugh. Seniority lists need to be mashed together. Incompatible fleets need to be made compatible. Executive vice presidencies need to be redistributed. The fears of frequent fliers need to be assuaged.

And through it all, the advertising needs to stay bright and cheerful. Nothing to see here, folks. Look at how super happy all those employees are to be working together!

No, you can’t blame advertising for putting a happy face on an ugly merger. But this is just painful.

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Jingle: Pan Am “We Fly the World” (1979)

Pan Am: We fly the world the way the world wants to fly.
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Today Pan Am is remembered as a luxury airline, largely by people who never flew it. But it was also an inclusive airline. Most of its advertising campaigns weren’t aimed at the international jetset—they were aimed at getting ordinary Americans to fly overseas, often for the first time.

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I love it when advertisers take the gloves off: Southwest and Delta are “duking it out” in Atlanta. This ought to be interesting…

Jingle: United Air Lines “Take Me Along” (1967)


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This campaign is notorious in the annals of advertising—right up there with the Pacific Air Lines campaign from Stan Freberg that allegedly drove the airline into bankruptcy. Neither campaign was quite as disastrous as the lore now suggests. In fact, this one may have been a big success.

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About

Fly the Branded Skies celebrates the past of airline branding and contemplates the future, from the perspective of Cameron Fleming, an advertising copywriter in New York. See how it all started »

Follow @brandedskies for updates. The opinions expressed here are my own and do not reflect those of my agency or its clients.

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