• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, April 11, 2023

Babies scream. They endlessly kick the seat in front of them. And they require so much gear and paraphernalia that they’re constantly clogging up jetways.

Parents know all that, and Carter’s understands how much it makes them cringe. So just in time for vacation season, the company running an Airplane Apology Agreement sweepstakes. Five lucky winners will get a package of 15 envelopes, each with a $100 gift card to mollify surrounding passengers. Each one also contains a note: “Money can’t buy happiness, but we hope it can rent patience for the next few hours. Sincerely, the baby in Seat ­­_____.”

“There has been a lot of debate around whether parents should be made to feel embarrassed or apologetic for traveling on an airplane with babies or young children,” says Jeff Jenkins, Carter’s executive vice president of global marketing. “We wanted to make traveling easier for those parents in this small, unexpected way -- and we hope equipping parents with the Airplane Apology Agreement will bring some levity to a stressful experience.”

The winners also get a onesie that says, “My parents apologize in advance.”

When it’s your baby crying, it’s easy to feel paranoid and imagine everyone on board wishes you’d get off somewhere over Cincinnati. It turns out you’re not wrong. A study commissioned earlier this year by PhotoAiD, a travel photo company, finds that 80% of air travelers prefer adults-only flights. (That includes parents.) And 64% would pay more for the privilege. About 70% think adults-only seating zones might be a nice compromise.

Jenkins says he completely identifies with the dread parents feel. “I have felt the pressure to keep them calm and quiet,” he tells Marketing Daily via email. “Babies are going to be babies, and we understand how stressful it can be to manage the judgment or disapproval from other passengers when babies get fussy.”

The idea is to help build a little compassion from adjacent passengers and give parents a shot at something more meaningful than an empty apology. “And maybe those who see this campaign will have a little more empathy for the parents on their next flight.”