Come to think of it, air travel really is a hoot
What’s so funny about flying? Nothing. And everything.
Seems that somewhere between $100-a-barrel oil and $15 surcharges, we lost our sense of humor about air travel. But this summer, as we endure America’s overcrowded airports, there’s lots to laugh about.
Funnyman Jay Leno cracked this joke the other night:
Ten U.S. airports — and many more are getting them — are using those total body scanners. You heard about these things? They can actually see what’s under a person’s clothes and in their pockets. This way, the airlines can be 100 percent sure you’re not walking away with any cash left after you buy your ticket and pay extra money for your luggage.
Perhaps the biggest “ha-ha” moment of the current airline crisis came last week, with the introduction of Derrie-Air. An advertising agency bought the ads in two Philadelphia newspapers promoting airfares by the pound. Talk about absurd.
Some got the joke. Others didn’t.
Editor & Publisher suggested the prank went too far.
Did the Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News cross an ethical line Friday when they ran a slew of false ads for a non-existent airline in an attempt to gauge the power of print and online advertising? Some journalism ethicists and observers say yes.
Several travelers sent us the original link to the Derrie-Air site, and the editors here at Tripso thought it was a hoot.
In fact, with tongue firmly planted in cheek, we were far ahead of the rest of the media and this enterprising ad agency. Last February we published an article “Treating passengers as baggage — by weight” that is one of our best-viewed pieces. Obviously, we respectfully disagree with the ethicists that treat journalism as if it is a religion.
We’d like to see more people poking fun at air travel. Wouldn’t you?
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4 Responses to “Come to think of it, air travel really is a hoot”
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That Derrie-Air site is hilarious! But what would really be cool is if the idea could actually work!
I don’t think they crossed any ethical lines. In fact, I have another story like this one that I think is a bit funnier: back in the early ’80’s, radio stations in Cincinnati, Ohio, wanted to prove their advertising was worth what they were charging. To prove this, they started advertising a fictious shopping mall that was being built: Plummet Mall–plunging 10 stories into the ground! The spots were funny–talking about building an underground mall. The ruse fooled a lot of people, including the TV stations that were sending crews out looking for huge piles of dirt where Plummet Mall was allegedly being built. This ruse went on for at least a couple of months before the perps fessed up. And there was no questioning of ethics because people saw what the perps were trying to do.
But to answer your question: yes, I would like to hear more people poke fun at air travel and the guilty people involved.
There is no humor in air travel unless you put it there yourself. I just got back from flying AA to deposit my grandmother’s ashes in Wichita. I can vouch for the gate keepers of American Airlines, at least in DFW. I was asked to “consolidate” my carry-on items, one of which was a vintage PanAm bag containing the urn which, in turn, contained said grandma. I replied, no, I thought I’d consolidated her about as much as I could! Gatekeeper called her supervisor who let me on with the “extra” item.
Have we forgotten about Sky High Airlines? (http://www.skyhighairlines.com) I can’t remember who created it, but it was a parody about air travel. Hard to believe that things could get worse!