• by Nina Lentini  @Nina_Lentini, April 8, 2008

Fresh on the heels of being named No. 1 in the Airline Quality Rating report for 2007, Air Tran Airways is launching a very targeted promotion; in fact, if you aren't 18-22, you likely won't hear a word about it.

"Fly Free 'til You're 23" targets college students in six major AirTran markets--New York, Atlanta, Orlando, Boston, Philadelphia and Milwaukee. The tongue-in-cheek campaign is from long-time AOR Cramer-Krasselt of Chicago.

Video and print executions feature senior citizens posing as college students--from a grandma using a fake ID at the movies to get a student discount to a trash-talking grandpa "throwing down" during a video game. Tagline: "Everyone will want to be college age."

Marketing efforts direct students to airtranu.com, where they can enter the contest (they must be ages 18-22 and have an AirTran Airways A+ Rewards number to participate). One person will win free flights on AirTran Airways until she or he turns 23.

The videos, two :30s ("Theatre" and "Gamer") and two :15s ("Fakey" and "Sk8r"), will be served only to the targeted age-group in select markets online at Web sites, including collegehumor.com and ESPN.com, in college theatres and via the new NBC on Campus, which provides video content to college campuses across the country in common areas such as bookstores and cafeterias. Print will appear in college newspapers in the six targeted markets.

The promotion will run until June 9.