Consider Sun Country Airlines’ "Checking In" a remembrance of the kind of well-conceived, over-the-top humor that played well prior to Sept. 11. This :60 can never be viewed in the same light again. It’s one of two spots in a campaign that was slated to debut Sept. 12 on the Internet—but didn’t for obvious reasons. Neither figures to run anytime soon, though the work is certainly of merit.
"Checking In" opens with a laconic airline passenger checking in at a terminal ticket counter. The petite and chipper female agent asks him those two questions that until recently passed for airport security: "Have your bags been in your possession the whole time?" and, "Has anyone asked you to carry anything for them?"
The passenger answers "no" to both queries. But the interrogation has only just begun. Questions spew forth from the increasingly aggressive agent. "Would you be upset to find that the person sitting next to you paid $500 less for their ticket?" she asks with an intimidating smile. "How about if we served you cold lasagna and a hot, boiling fruit cup?" "What if we wedged you in between two sumo wrestlers? Would you mind then?"
The bewildered passenger then finds himself at the receiving end of not only a verbal barrage, but a physical assault. "Would you cry like a little girl if I poked you like this?" demands the agent, reaching out and jamming her forefinger into his chest. "How about if I did something like this?" she continues, tweaking both his nipples, eliciting an "ouch."
The violence escalates as the agent delivers a swift kick to the groin of the now-stunned customer. Leaping from behind the counter, she knocks him to the ground, initiating a full-out wrestling match on the airport terminal floor. A male airline employee rushes in to join the fracas, grabbing the passenger by his pants as he attempts to crawl away.
Suddenly, the voice of reason enters the picture: A spokesman-type in shirt and tie explains, "This is how many people feel they’re treated by the airline industry. It’s not real—or is it?"
As the noisy ruckus continues, a parting super against a black background reads, "PETAP. People for the Ethical Treatment of Airline Passengers." Underneath this organization’s ID is a PSA-type credit: "Made possible in part by Sun Country Airlines."
The second satirical :60, "Castaway," features another helpless passenger. This guy, like Tom Hanks’ character in the movie of the same title, seems hopelessly stran-ded—the airline departure gate serves as his desolate island. Waiting on standby for a flight, the well-dressed businessman deteriorates over a period of weeks: His clothes are reduced to rags; his hair is long and matted and he has grown a scraggly beard; he scavenges and steals for food. He finds brief solace in looking at a snapshot of his loved ones, taped to a piece of airport furniture. His only moment of triumph comes when, à la Hanks in the movie, he is able to create fire—this time in a nearby wastebasket, causing observers to flee. Again the PETAP spokesman appears, telling us about the not-so exaggerated travails of airline customers—the tragedy of "passenger neglect."
The Sun Country campaign was directed by Joe Schaak of Minneapolis-based Twist Film for Milwaukee agency BVK. The agency intended to roll out the spots on the Web, hoping to generate a buzz with the over-the-top humor. Also in the works, according to BVK creative director Jeff Ericksen, was a series of PETAP rallies to be hosted by Sun Country CEO/chairman Bill LaMacchia. "It was a great way to provide coast-to-coast marketing for a regional carrier," noted Ericksen.
The offbeat concept and marketing attracted Schaak. "The agency had to create spots that were so funny that viewers would want to share them with others over the net," said the director, adding that the ads played off of a pre-9/11 "truism that 95 percent of airline passengers feel they are mistreated by airlines. Everyone can identify with that," he observed. "The beautiful thing about these spots is the way they take this premise and push it to the extreme."
Schaak’s major concerns were casting and building the comedic tension. "For ‘Checking In,’ it was important to have one person [the agent] overplaying wildy without any inhibitions, and the other underplaying. It was a tricky build. … I’m glad we got to make these, because it’s highly unlikely we’ll see anything like this again for a while."
For BVK, Ericksen served as creative director, art director and copywriter. Terri Burmester and Tracy Xavier were executive producer and producer, respectively, for the agency.
Jim Geib executive produced for Twist. The spots were shot on location at General Mitchell International Airport, Milwaukee, by DP Jeff Stonehouse.
Offline editor/sound designer/ audio mixer was Charley Schwartz of Uppercut Editorial, Minneapolis. Colorist was Dave Sweet of Pixel Farm, Minneapolis. Music composers were Chris Lambe and Daron Walker of Cosmonaut Group, Minneapolis.
