Just to help me get the humor in this, some help:

1. Is the idea the sarcasm that discount airline pilots are losers, and deserve a break in the form of a beer? That might be consistent with the lines in the ad to the effect: "you don't have the experience to be safe and don't have a chance to get a job with a real airline."

2. Or is the idea the irony that discount airline pilots are winners, in that they put up with a special set of problems, and deserve a break in the form of a beer?

3. Are we in part thrilled that an ad writer has noticed FF-type concerns in such a prominent way and are going along with a too-hearty laugh as a way of saying thanks?

4. Is playing on airline safety concerns, which can be a pretty rich mixture of both subjective impressions and objective facts, fair game? With pilots as a subject, when they cannot drink on duty--or off-duty during many times as well?

Maybe I will do better in understanding it in getting some perceptions from people that have heard other AB commericals in this series--the Wall Street Journal says there are a series of "guys" that get called out and the pilot was just one of them. For example, I find the beer umpire series funny, although individual ads in the series can seem strained. But I realize the need to keep me pumped up.....