JetBlue's "You Above All" campaign has a spot where a taxi driver tries to charge an extra $25 for luggage stored in the trunk.
Southwest, the only U.S. carrier that allows the first two bags to be checked for free, has been running its "Good Cop, Bag Cop" ads since September and launched a "Bags Fly Free"
last year.
"Airline advertising tends to be much more soft-spoken as opposed to these very comparative, combative commercials that Southwest and JetBlue [are
running]," says Lopo Rego, an associate professor of marketing at the University of Iowa.
But the other carriers generated more than $1.4 billion in excess-baggage fees during the first six months of this year, according to Robert Herbst of AirlineFinancials.com, so they may be developing Naugahydes about the jabs and uppercuts from Southwest and JetBlue.
advertisement
advertisement