Mile High Advertisements
Ads On Your Cocktail Napkins, Tray Tables, Overhead Luggage Compartments and Barf Bags
As airlines look for new sources of revenue to offset rising fuel costs, more carriers are turning planes into marketing vehicles, installing advertising in hard-to-miss places. Several American carriers, including US Airways and AirTran, recently started selling advertisements on napkins or stickers that appear on open tray tables. Over the summer, Ryanair, the European low-cost carrier, has gone further, installing advertising panels on the covers of the overhead luggage compartments and on the backs of closed tray tables. The overhead bins have had a slightly faster uptake than the seatbacks at Ryanair, with advertisements being placed by companies like the Dutch bank ING; Red Bull, the energy drink; and Meteor Mobile Communications, an Irish cellphone operator. Several carriers have even experimented with advertisements printed on airsickness bags. Hey, it works. You’ll always remember that time when you puked in a Red Bull barf bag.
Will other advertisers and airlines climb aboard? Even though marketers are eager to connect with consumers in new ways, they are also wary about annoying them. They’re guaranteed to annoy flyers who forgot to bring a book/DVD player and are just starring at the ads for hours.
