USAirways to sell advertising space on barf bags.

I suppose that if one of the purposes of this blog is to make fun and/or dissect the intent behind advertising, I should really take this on. It isn't much fun, though, as the joke has already pretty much written itself. I don't suppose USAirways is fooling themselves into thinking that people are really going to be comprehending an ad for, say, Pepto-Bismol, while puking their guts out, probably due to being bounced around the sky in some severe turbulence. That just wouldn’t happen for me. I don’t suppose these folks who devise and pay for advertising campaigns are that stupid. So, I suppose the alternative is that they hope that people will come across them while digging around in the seat back pocket in front of them while, I dunno, not looking at the safety briefing card that the flight attendant you are ignoring is holding up while you are looking at the box scores in the newspaper.

I just am not sure I see the connection between the ad and the viewer, in this case. With TV ads, they pretty much have a captive audience, unless said audience goes out to the kitchen to get a Bud Lite and a ham sandwich during the commercial break. Maybe they are banking on the complete and utter boredom that often sinks in with long flights, people will start rummaging around in the frantic hope they will find something to occupy their attention for a few minutes of the four and a half hour flight, stuck inside a large flying aluminum tube crowded with all sorts of people you don’t know and probably don’t wish to.

I am not sure I have seen such a weird ad campaign since the “Just Say No To Drugs!” slogan printed on the rubber mats inside urinals in men’s restrooms. (What, women don’t do drugs?) Yes, I could see how seeing that message, staring up at you while you have your willie in your hand, all strung out with your drug-of-choice, would really have an affect on your life. “Of course! Why didn’t I think of that!?! Just say No!”

Anyway, it will be an interesting experiment to see how long this proposed vehicle for advertising will work. Why do companies pay for this stupid stuff, anyway? I guess they are so desperate to saturate (Hmmm, unintentional pun there) the potential customer with their particular brand name, they don’t really care what in what form that ad comes in.

Some companies have more money than they really need, if they decide to spend it on stupid stuff like this.