Mekanism—AS' new ad agency, based in San Francisco—is clearly trying to replicate the edgy-ness of the copywriting that Eleven (VX's old agency of record) pioneered, but not too edgy so as to turn off AS loyalists. There's a reason why the gradient is sticking around, just now instead of going from red to purple it's going from a muted green to dark blue. The "Different Works" campaign that debuted when the merger closed early this year received a ton of negative feedback from AS people as well as some more vocal customers (e.g. those who bother to comment on Facebook brand page posts) for being too cheeky and packed with double entendres, so they clearly can't go all-Virgin in terms of ad voice (nor should they).

Alaska's brand is going in weird directions though. No idea what the long-term plan for the gradient is since it looks like the website and look/feel of airport signage will keep the current "aura" elements from the Hornall Anderson rebrand.