FlyWorld

What's most ironic is that it's "like flying international" only because CO is so keen to fly 767's on long-haul international routes instead of the 777 and 747's that UA used on same routes. Another artifact of the race to the bottom.

DaviddesJ

I think you guys are nuts. Or maybe you didn't watch to the end? Here's the full frame at the end of the video. It seems like a perfectly good view of the seat.

goodeats21

OK...maybe I am nuts....because that does not look like an advertisement for a lie-flat seat. That shot actually makes it look more like a recliner.

wrp96

That's what I thought watching it.

DaviddesJ

It's just one still image. He fully reclines, and then sits back up to talk to the camera (in this image, the seat is still flat, but he's pulling himself up so that he can see the camera).

Good grief, did any of you actually watch the video??

mike1968

You must be really young. That was the 1990s...although not sure about the mistresses. pmUA learned the hard way in the 1960s not to p-off their top business customers when they ran their fly your wife for free campaign and then naïvely sent thank you notes to the Mr's wife...funny thing she was at home doing the dishes...note to COua...don't do this...although the modern equivalent of upgrading you and sending the wife to economy because the res was split has a similar effect...now wait what world class airline would do that???

texasex95

These were some of the best ads. Creative. Unique. Interesting. Artistic. Unexpected. Hip.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frVP9lV_YR4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9vWCKlseus

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFXbCSDq6Cg

DaviddesJ

And absolutely zero reason in them to fly UA rather than any other airline?

GoAmtrak

And yet the new ad purporting to showcase the literal product still fails to leave any real impression. Double fail with the emotional vacuity that never used to exist in UA's advertising (forget PMUA, even last year's Team USA Olympics series connected on a base level).

Sulley

Now 767's are too small to cross the pond?!

Wow. Just wow.

As for the commercial, meh. Not a fan.

halls120

I watched it it at the site originally linked, not full frame. The photo you posted does show more of the seat.

Calling people " nuts" doesn't advance your argument.

DBCme

Looks like his knee is hitting the table in front of him.
And he can't fully recline.

I know..I know.. watch the video.
But dear UA: Don't get any fancy shmancy ideas to use this still image for any magazine print. Your welcome.

UA-NYC

Based on the fact you only see a fraction of the seat, AND it's not like whomever's watching this is going to see it in slow-motion / freeze frame...I don't think "we're" the ones who are nuts.

Watch the AA spot upthread that this ad rips off...much better product visibility. And a stronger message overall.

cerealmarketer

Once they get their product and service standards in order, 'Rededicated' hits exactly the mark.

Global, business oriented, hard working for you.

milesmuncher

They're branding campaigns, while the p.s. ad we're all talking about is more about promoting a specific product / features. Kind of an apples and oranges comparison.

But you need both - most people here are lamenting the lack of emotional connection in the ad, and I agree with you that that is more the domain of a brand campaign than a product highlight. That said, the closest thing to a branding campaign we've seen from UA since the merger is either the Olympics ad (not very good either - just kept rattling off more destinations, more flights, more FEATURES but no emotional connection in the script... the music and athlete imagery maybe, but I don't really know what that is supposed to tell me about United) or the cheesy Chase MileagePlus Explorer commercials (which don't exactly paint the airline in the most aspirational sense).

IMO a product / feature ad like this p.s. one should be about the product and the features and scaled back a bit on the emotional connection stuff - but it should still build on a pre-existing branding message. It should also ladder up to something higher-level than rattling off the features. When I watch this ad I get a list of benefits: 15" screen, 4 course meal, wifi and power, flat bed seats, ice cream sundae. Those are all good things! What conclusion am I supposed to draw from that list of features? "... as luxurious as flying overseas" gives me a hint at what they're trying to get to, but this ad certainly doesn't convey "luxury" to me. And while they do pan back at the end, I still don't see the actual seat - just the divider between seats.

I remember the Olympics ads listing features like more flights to more places, more flat bed seats (I think?) - all good things again! I just wish they could use these benefits to make a higher level connection. Does that mean United can get me wherever I need to go, with more options and fewer connections? Does it mean United can take me to far off lands that I'd only ever dreamed of visiting? Does it mean that I'll show up well-rested and ready to get moving as soon as I land?

There are a TON of places they could go with some of the great features they have right now, and they're just not. And I'm saying this as a pmCO guy, who generally thinks the COdbaUA SMI/J stuff is overblown, and who happens to think the new p.s. seat is a HUGE upgrade over the old recliners (I'm 6'6" but since I tend to sleep on my side, knees slightly bent, I've never had length issues).