The Cinema of Schadenfreude
Few of us have kind words for the Fortune 500 CEOs who lived it up while the value of their companies, and our 401(k)s, imploded. And with a trio of videos dripping with schadenfreude, JetBlue proposes to help disgraced executives adjust to life without a private jet. Each episode at the Welcome Bigwigs site also touts features any traveler will appreciate.
The first in the series, entitled Welcome Aboard, explains how the airline flies to many of a CEO's regular haunts. "JetBlue can get you to many cities where you already own homes or hide money," says the host. "Aruba. Vegas. St. Maarten. Nantucket. They even have service to D.C. so you'll never be late for a congressional hearing. JetBlue even flies to the hidden headquarters of the Illuminati, where CEOs like us manipulate the shadow government that rules the world."
Then we're off to The Airport, in which our slightly bewildered CEO avoids the hoi polloi by checking in at an automated kiosk. "Just tap the screen, then scan your credit card," says the host. "Make sure it's yours! And there you have it, easier than writing off a toxic asset."
In the final installment, The Flight, our CEO is assured that each leather-covered seat comes with its own entertainment center, and that there's plenty of room to work. As our relaxed protagonist sits in his middle seat, singing along to a song on his headphones, the host notes, "Ah, feels like 2006 again."
By using a humorous and timely angle to describe an airline's benefits and features, the JetBlue videos demonstrate solid viral potential—and Marketing Inspiration.
More Inspiration:
Paul Williams: Road Trip Lessons to Grow Your Brand
Lewis Green: Businesses Will Take Social Media to the Bank
Matthew T. Grant: Matthew T. Grant, SMexpert (TM), Now Accepting Offers
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The Jet Blue series of ads is interesting for another reason. It pretends to target executives while writing them off to reach out to populist conspiracy theorists and to those who envy executive perks. Clearly, there are not a lot of executives who will respond well to a campaign that blames them for the current economic meltdown. On the other hand, there are a lot of potential customers who wish they were as successful as the executives they love to hate. So Jet Blue just piles on like a Congressman, and goes for the cheap laugh to fill its seats. At least they aren’t as tone deaf as their competitors at American Airlines, whose recent campaign suggests that the real reason business people fly is to get to some golf course or fancy restaurant in a foreign city, not because there is no other way to earn the business that keeps their companies afloat. Have these people ever experienced the “joy” of business travel?
You have to be kidding. The entire series presumes that EVERY Executive is a despicable swine, utterly unable to grasp his politico-economic situation. Is that how most Ececutives succeed? Hardly! The Executives who do not get it, are those who the media report, they are far from the norm.
The entire marketing campaign is objectionable. That JetBlue has paid for it is despicable. I will never fly with them again.