• by Fern Siegel , Yesterday

Southwest Airlines has big news: It's adding seat assignments to bookings.

That's not new to the industry, but it is a first for Southwest. And to drive the point home, it enlisted its agency of record, GSD&M, to create a new campaign. The result is "Are You Sitting Down?"

The new 30-second spot runs on broadcast TV, online programmatic video and social media. It opens with a flight attendant announcing: “Now on Southwest you can pick your seat when you book, not when you board. We call it …” before she can finish, a woman screams “assigned seating!”

The reaction is riotous. Now, passengers who may have avoided the airline, or those who flew it, but were annoyed by the lack of choice, have a new reason to book Southwest. Previously, customers had to pay for a priority-boarding position.

The commercial also illustrates the airline can poke fun at itself.

Southwest will sell tickets with assigned seats in the second half of 2025, with the first flights operating with assigned and premium seating in the first half of 2026.

GSD&M client work includes Ram, Capital One Bank, Pizza Hut and Dodge.