JetBlue takes shots at competitors in new ad campaign

You'd think JetBlue might be a bit chastened in trumpeting its public image after the now notorious Steven Slater episode. It's not every day, after all, that a disgruntled airline steward profanely upbraids a passenger and announces his resignation on a plane intercom, grabs a beer and slides down the plane's safety chute in a cunning escape.

But "chastened" doesn't appear to be in JetBlue's corporate vocabulary. And perhaps the firm can stand to be a bit cocky -- Steven Slater or no, business is booming. So on Friday the discount carrier unveiled its new "You Above All" campaign, which sidesteps traditional radio and TV broadcast spots in favor of humorous viral videos spelling out what JetBlue depicts as the many maddening absurdities involved with flying with competing carriers.

"We're not afraid to call it out where the JetBlue experience is better than the experience at our competitors," JetBlue's senior VP for marketing and commercial strategy, Martin St. George, told the New York Times' Stuart Elliot. St. George explained that the new theme is intended to set JetBlue up for the next 10 years by getting "back to our DNA, our original mission," which is "bringing humanity back to air travel."

The ads all feature average people doing the sorts of things they do in any average day: taking a cab, buying a soft drink from a vendor, riding an elevator. But each activity includes a twist involving a none-too-subtle tie-in to airline travel. At the end of each spot, a statement appears on the screen that reads, "If you won't take it on the ground, don't take it in the air."

Below are a couple of the spots. All of them can be viewed on YouTube here.