• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, April 3, 2006

After four episodes of Fox's new comedy "The Loop," one thing is clear: The airline industry should do everything possible to keep the show on the air. Whether it takes buying out the ad inventory, promoting it on tray tables, or requiring pilots to slide in a plug ("Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking: 'We're at our cruising altitude of 35,000 feet and I want to remind you to tune in to "The Loop" Thursday night on Fox'"), the show's survival should be an industry imperative.

Plain and simple, it makes them look good. For starters, it focuses on a super-cool 24-year-old who seems to revere the airlines more than music, sports,or MySpace. In one scene, he's touting the new Boeing model. In another, he sounds like the industry's man on Capitol Hill: "Commercial aviation is the backbone of our economy," he says. "What better illustrates the American dream than air travel?"

And, much as NBC's "The Office" makes the most dysfunctional workplace seem like a well-oiled machine, "The Loop" gives a shine to the most chapter-eleven-filing, pension-cutting, flight-delaying airlines. The bumbling, stumbling employees of the show's "Trans Alliance Airways" rival Dunder Mifflin's for ineptitude.

"Sam"--the super-cool, industry-loving lead character--is an executive at Trans Alliance. He parties hard, barely works, and skates through life--yet always comes up with a good enough idea to make his ridiculous boss ("Russ") think the airline will be able to right itself.

Despite Sam's flashes of face-saving, last-second "wisdom," Trans Alliance continues to struggle. And Russ keeps pushing for a magic bullet to improve its fortunes. Low-cost alternative "Jack Air" is proposed. So is "Sky Party Air," Sam's idea for a bacchanal-on-board service.

Russ' continual search for a turnaround plan provides the airline industry with some nifty and direct endorsements. "Jack Air" is a would-be competitor to "JetBlue, Song, Southwest," described on the show as "all hip" (a label that might surprise even Southwest, a proud no-frills carrier that doesn't fly to New York City). In the March 23 episode, Russ is determined to find a way to compete with the apparently thriving Virgin Atlantic and its well-known leader (evaluated and ranked via research firm iTVX as one of the five most effective product placements last week).

"This airline is dying," Russ says of Trans Alliance, "and it's all because of one man: Sir Richard Branson."

The Trans Alliance team then discusses Virgin's virtues. Sam points out that its Upper Class--Virgin's moniker for business class--service offers massages, pajamas, and flat beds. They've got a "sexy vibe going on," he says.

So, Sam is sent on an Upper Class trip to Hong Kong on a recon mission. But instead of using the trip to develop strategy for Trans Alliance, he decides to turn it into an extended date (For an airline that differentiates itself based on the in-flight experience like Virgin, that's a pretty neat endorsement.)

As the episode unfolds, Virgin receives extensive exposure as a scene takes place at one of its red-carpeted gate areas. The airline's logo is visible throughout. The interiors of its planes are referred to as "a work of art." A Trans Alliance executive even gratuitously mentions "Upper Class," one of Virgin's principal brand identifiers. It's a wonder that someone doesn't just blurt out: "it's great to be a jetrosexual (Virgin's term for its passengers)."

It's the kind of publicity a marketer just can't buy. Whoops--actually it can. In today's increasingly heated product placement market, a brand can be favorably integrated into a show for the right price.

And that's why the airline industry should band together to keep "The Loop" going. It's a splendid marketing vehicle for an industry with approval ratings rivaling nuclear power. If US Airways launches non-stop service to Ibiza, get Fox to toss it into the dialogue. If United starts offering in-flight e-mail, get Sam to tell Russ all about it. If Continental's on-time performance is 98 percent, compare that to Trans Alliance's repeated tardiness.

Alas, the airline industry will probably lose this battle, too. After the premiere episode followed "American Idol" and did very well, "The Loop" has garnered about as much consumer approval as the airlines themselves. Consistently low ratings probably mean it will be grounded soon.