wrp96

At least it doesn't feature Smisek.

flyingmusicianlax

That was some horrible, uninspired acting and some terrible cinematography. The close-up of his face... oh god.

It was even nicer to hear a direct excerpt of RiB and not some crappy, slapped-together safety briefing version.

sdemw

indeed - meh!

mduell

Easy:

dinoscool3

It looked fine to me, not the best, but it does not warrant the hostility shown by posters in this thread.

DaviddesJ

I notice that the men go to visit the customers (and probably their mistresses) while the women bring coffee and hand out travel packets. Feels like 1950, not 1990.

ncorman

One of the best commercials and still relevant (maybe even more) with today's environment.

B787938

This is a joke, right? This is a spoof planted on someone's blog? Is McGarryBowen still handling media for United? Apparently, someone thinks sundaes will attract customers? Sweet jebus.

uastarflyer

Why is the nut ramekin behind his head out if easy reach?

The product looks dull and uninspired.

Which explains the ad.

Kurt

Seems strange that his wine glass and bowl of nuts are in the little shoulder-height storage area, while his electronic device is on the shelf below the screen, with a cord going who knows where. Isn't the USB plug where the wine and nuts are?

bob_the_d

they are. there's also an ipod/ipad plug near that shelf under the screen to play your own video media. i'm not guessing that's what's actually used but they just wanted to show wine and nuts somewhere which is why it's there.

also i think about it, i kind of like matt damon as a voiceover. he's got a decent talking voice. he's no morgan freeman, but i like it.

flyingmusicianlax

When you compare it to the UA commercials of the mid 2000s, well, there really is no comparison. The marketing then was brilliant, the marketing now is atrociously bland.

GoAmtrak

Thankfully he didn't use the opportunity to reprise his role as Carol the Pilot.

DC Mike

Really unfortunate ad. The message is pretty muddled, and there's no sense of who the target audience is.

B.D. Wong isn't a young and trendy urbanite, but not someone who will connect with an established business flyer either. Same thing with Matt Damon.

The sell is on the amenities, but United's weakness, if you ask me, is the service experience - grouchy gate agents, grouchy flight attendants, an airline that doesn't care.

I don't walk away from this with a sense that United understands why I fly, what I want from the experience. Contrast that to these three ads that absolutely deliver the message (in three very different ways):

United Airlines - "Rededicated"

American Airlines - "Going Home"

United Airlines - "Interview"

Anyway, just two pennies from a PR guy (and everyone knows the ad guys hate us PR guys!)...

DaviddesJ

Don't we all fly to get from here to there? I don't see UA or anyone else marketing "grand circle" flights that depart and take off from the same airport.