JetBlue: Now without Seat Monsters

This is an animated commercial for JetBlue Airlines.

I don’t find this commercial’s claims about how much space you get in a JetBlue seat remotely believable because I’ve never seen any airplane were a tall, lanky guy got enough space so that if he wanted to stretch his legs out straight ahead of him he would be able to without kicking the seat in front of him.  Still, the seat monster from the other airline is funny and, given how much some of my taller friends dread airplanes, actually doesn’t feel that impossible.

I did find myself wondering if the seat monster that kidnapped the guy in the commercial was nice enough to grab his bags along with his laptop.

The ad is cute and definitely makes their point well, even if it isn’t completely believable as presented.  Since the seat monster seems to be working for JetBlue, however, I have to wonder how trustworthy they really are.  Would you fly with an airline that’s willing to send a seat monster to kidnap passengers from other airlines?  I’m not sure I would.  It’s a good thing seat monsters don’t really exist.  Or maybe they do and I’m just not on their list of people to gobble up, since I usually have enough space in airline seats.

Piaggio Aero: Objects May Be Smaller Than They Appear

This is an ad for a Piaggio Aaro jet.  It’s aimed at businesses that own corporate jets.

It’s a pretty ad, I’ll give them that. The problem is that it’s kind of misleading.  I look at that and I see a big, shiny airplane.  The graphics at the top suggest that it’s plenty big enough to go anywhere and for anyone to be comfortable, right?  Yeah, until you read the text.

See that little map that shows arrows pointing from one coast to the other suggesting the plane can cross the country in one jump?  Next to it the text clarifies that the plane’s range is only 1,470 nm.  I’m going to assume “nm” means nautical miles (it usually means nanometers), which means that the plane’s range is only a little over 1,690 miles.  The country is about 2600 miles across from San Francisco to New York.  I don’t think you’ll make it across the country in one jump in this plane, unless Piaggio Aero measures distance far differently than I do.

But if you have to stop in your trip from L.A. to New York, at least you’ll be in a comfy cabin, right?  We can see the little graphic showing the stick person comfortably able to stand up and move around in the cabin-box right there at the top of the page!  Well, that image tells us that the cabin (which holds nine people) is six feet wide and five feet and nine inches tall.  As long as the seats are comfy the six feet isn’t likely a big problem, but the average height of a man in the U.S. is five feet and ten inches.  White men, who are the people who predominately get to fly around in private corporate jets, tend to be taller still.

At least all of this information is on the ad, though.  And not even in print that tiny.  Still, the graphics don’t seem to match.  If I were in the market to buy a jet, I’m not sure that this ad would work on me.  Besides, when you’re able to buy your own plane, your company couldn’t be in that much financial trouble, could it?  So is saving money really going to be the biggest concern for them?  Maybe it is.  I’ve never been in that position.  But I do know I wouldn’t want to feel like I was cutting corners, even a little, on something that’s going to be holding me 30,000 feet up in the air.  Would you?