Advertising

Air France campaign promotes economy experience

March 20, 2018Harriet BaskasAdvertising, FoodAir France, econmy seats, inflight amenities

Air France (launching flights between Seattle and Paris this weekend) is rolling out a cute campaign focusing not on its business or first class amenities – but on what it gives to economy pass passengers.

And what other airlines don’t.

Noting that ‘budget’ carriers offer low prices but minimal amenities, the “Take a Chance or Fly Air France” campaign touts the fact that economy class passengers on Air France pay low prices but also get amenities such as in-flight entertainment, warm meals, and champagne.

To make the point, Air France has made up give-away boxes containing items that may be useful to passengers flying economy class on other airlines:

5 foot scroll of Sudoku puzzles for flights without free entertainment
Scratch-and-sniff boeuf bourguignon meal patch for flights without free hot meals and;
Champagne gummies for flights without free champagne

The boxes will be given away via a vending machine at an event at The Grove shopping center in Los Angeles on March 24 (with a few golden tickets good for two round-trip tickets on Air France in the mix), but the rest of us can enter to win a box of goodies by entering an online sweepstakes.

Spotted at Rapid City Regional Airport

September 21, 2015Harriet BaskasAdvertising, Airport shops, Airports, ExhibitsRapid City Regional Airport, travel

For a week of adventure in South Dakota – including visit to Mount Rushmore, Wall Drug and Deadwood – my trip begins at Rapid City Regional Airport (RAP).

In a gift shop stocked with lots of great regional items, I spotted these two gems:

The airport welcomes passengers with some great vintage photos (more on that later in the week) and with the South Dakota’s first licensed homebuilt aircraft:

And, at the baggage claim carousel, this creative advertisement for casino gaming in Deadwood, which just added roulette, craps and Keno this past July.

Airline ads from the Mad Men era

April 5, 2015Harriet BaskasAdvertising, Aviation historyAirlines, books, Mad Men

The final season of Mad Men kicks off tonight and that gives us yet another excuse to look back at the real work done by advertising men and women on behalf of airlines during the glory days of the industry.

We get help from an impressive new book – in looks, size (it measures 12.2″ by 16.1″), weight (it tips the scales at over 14 pounds) and price (it will set you back $400, although the pre-order price is about $250) – that details the artwork of airline ads from the mid 1940s through the mid 1970s.

Created by M. C. Hühne, Airline Visual Identity: 1945-1975 is a lushly printed and encyclopedic tour though the artwork and the advertising images that helped build airline brands.

Here are a few more samples of images in the book reproduced directly from the originals, with special care given to getting the colors and special effects just right.

(All images except Mohawk Airlines courtesy Airline Visual Identity 1945-1975)

Characters on parade at SFO Airport

June 28, 2014Harriet BaskasAdvertising, Exhibits, Museumsadvertising mascots, SFO airport, SFO Museum

Baby boomer alert: Tony the Tiger, Charlie the Tuna, Pillsbury’s Poppin’ Fresh Doughboy and more than 300 other advertising mascots are on display at San Francisco International Airport.

The collection is offered by the SFO Museum and is on loan from San Francisco-based author, consultant and pop culture historian Warren Dotz. On view: advertising, promotional items and other nostalgia-inducing items for the baby boomer generation.

Here are some samples:

A World of Characters: Advertising Icons from the Warren Dotz Collection is located pre-security in the International Terminal Main Hall Departures Lobby at San Francisco International Airport through January 4, 2015.

Travel Tidbits: guns, billboards and ugly sweaters

November 23, 2013Harriet BaskasAdvertising, Guns, Holidaysbillboards, British Airways, guns at airports, ugly sweaters, yarn bomb

Guns at airports

Courtesy TSA

The TSA’s Week in Review is always a fascinating and somewhat frightening read.

In the latest issue, for example, we learned that 28 firearms were found at airport checkpoints nationwide this week – a tally that is not that unusual.

Of those 28 firearms, 25 were loaded and eight had rounds chambered. And among the loaded firearms was one discovered strapped to the ankle of a passenger at Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT).

I wonder if that passenger gave the excuse most people do when found with firearms at airports: “Oops, I forgot that was there.”

British Airways billboards: how do they do that?

British Airways is rolling out video billboards that show children pointing to the sky whenever a British Airlines plane flies by. The airline says there’s some sort of “digital “wizardry” involved that allows the billboards to “know” the flight number and city a plane is arriving from and display it on the screen.

The first billboard was installed in Chiswick, a suburb west of London. Bustling Picadilly Circus gets one as well.

Ugly Sweaters

And if you’re headed to Portland, Oregon this season – perhaps to the presentation about my new book Hidden Treasures: What Museums Can’t or Won’t Show You on December 6 at St. Johns Booksellers -then keep an eye out for downtown sculptures that will be “yarn bombed” by local fiber artists.

More than a dozen statues are scheduled to get yarn bombed this season as the city goes a little knit-crazy with sweater -themed events and ugly sweater promotions at several hotels.

At the Mark Spencer, for example, any guest wearing an ugly sweater at check-in will automatically receive a free room upgrade. And at the Heathman Hotel, ugly sweaters will be issued to all dogs checking in with their people.

More details about visiting Portland here.