Originally Posted by ursine1

I believe this was discussed in another thread when the campaign first launched.

My thinking is that GSD&M (their agency of record), after something like three decades, has simply run the well dry on relevant new ways to market Southwest.*

Yes, this is very odd -- highlight seat numbers at an airline where they don't use seat numbers -- but "tell the customer's story" is about as basic an ad concept as it gets. Most strange is that "Every Seat Has a Story" doesn't even need to include the seat numbers at all -- it would absolutely work without them. In fact, including them somewhat works against concept, in that it takes the idea of a unique customer and their individual story and essentially reduces that to a number.

I'm doubtful this represents any kind of intentional foreshadowing on the part of GSD&M, regardless of how seriously Southwest may be internally considering assigned seating. Southwest has never previously shown that kind of marketing intelligence when it comes to sharing strategy and/or planning ahead.

*Arguably, "Transfarency" is a strong campaign, helping to effectively differentiate Southwest from other carriers, even as the very things that make them different dwindle away.