The art of painfully relevant analogy

Last we heard from Jet Blue they were keeping deliberately mum on the antics of rogue airline attendant Steve.

This time, a new campaign from Mullen paints a picture of their competitive advantage that's so clear, it's painfully provocative.

Take a look:



While "Happy Jetting" was warm and fuzzy, it never quite got to the point. To be fair, it worked wonders for the brand, helping elevate Jet Blue from a little known start up to a major player with "cool" factor the equivalent of iPod. For that, it must be commended.

But times have changed and it's time for a natural sort of evolution.

Fundamentally, "jetting" is all the fun and special things you get that you don't get when you simply "fly". When you start talking about a whole bunch of things - even if you tie them all together with a glamorous name like "jetting" - it can easily become difficult for customers to articulate your competitive advantage - or, what Jet Blue has that the others do not. "Jetting" is simply not the way consumers express "better."

By now, most of us have had the opportunity to fly Jet Blue. We know about the endless snack basket and the tv sets on every headrest. We know the flight attendants are nice....right? Or did that part of the "jetting" experience fall to the wayside when dear steve flipped the bird and popped the emergency exit slide?

Fact is, the personal tv sets have become common place and Steve is a perfect example of how we can't control flight attendants' personalities. But, the most legroom in coach is both relevant and defensible as a competitive advantage.

Niceness is debatable, but how far I can stretch my legs? Well, I either can or I can't.

Mullen pulls this together nicely with flawless casting (or is that really a hidden camera?) and humorous execution. The insight is sharp and the execution is dead ON STRATEGY.