The April 2011 issued of Fast Company features two full page ads in a row. The first is more of a “meta-ad” or an ad blueprint, placed cleverly across from an article on the ubiquity of branding messages and Morgan Spurlock’s new documentary, Pom Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold, a film that explores “the relationship between content and advertising.” JetBlue’s meta-ad, while not the first of its kind, does a nice job of making fun of one common print ad formula.

Then, on the following page, is an actual ad for JetBlue, featuring their tagline, which I hadn’t seen before, though, for all I know, it’s been around for a long time.

The tagline is, simply:

You Above All.

Three simple words that no other airline, in, what, 80 years of airline advertising, had ever thought of, or, if they did, they never chose to use it.

This tagline, for my money, takes its place just above Something Special In The Air and You’re Now Free To Move About The Country as a classic tagline in the airline category, and, really, regardless of category.

It’s just one of those perfect lines. So simple and packed with meaning. The play on flying/being up in the air is a gentle, respectful one, not a groaner. But the primary meaning of the line is the emphasis on customer-centricness. If this were American, United, Northwest, Delta or most other airlines, the line would be hollow and disingenuous to anyone who has flown on those airlines. But JetBlue, along with Southwest and perhaps a few other, smaller airlines, can make a case for being sufficiently customer-centric to tout it in the tagline.

It’s interesting that, because this tagline is so nicely crafted, it doesn’t raise the bogus button the way that so many taglines alleging that something other than profit is the most important thing to that company. In this case, I didn’t immediately react to the line by saying, “Yeah, right. I’m pretty sure it’s Profit Above All. Who you kiddin’?” Instead, somehow the JetBlue line avoids this reaction, even though we all know that the actual thinking behind the line is “Our path to profitability is paved with customer service.” Which, come to think of it, wouldn’t be such a bad tagline for some forthright brand out there. Just email me with the word “Dibs” in the subject line, along with your billing address so I can invoice you, should you be the lucky one to grab it before it’s gone.

By the way, a word to all you creative directors out there whose reaction to JetBlue’s tagline, had it been presented to you by some junior copywriter, would have been, “Jeez, I don’t think so, that’s a line any airline could use.” Even if that were true, so what? If it’s a great line, and it isn’t taken, TAKE IT, rather than taking a pass based on such weak, hippo crap reasoning.

Anybody out there have any other candidates for a great tagline in the Airline industry?

Anybody out there, period?

Even if AT&T gains a lopsided, unfair competitive advantage by swallowing up T Mobile, it would be well worth it in order to wipe T Mobile’s shameful, pathetic Apple-ripoff TV campaign from the face of the earth. That campaign is copycat clonyism on a scale I can’t recall ever seeing before. For one large national brand to blatantly clone the very visible, highly touted campaign of another large national brand is, in my memory, without precedent. This advertising travesty alone is reason enough to celebrate the demise of T Mobile, whose brand should then be hoisted atop the entrance to advertising’s hall of shame.

Decades after our industry presumably figured out that chest beating doesn’t really mean anything to consumers, and in fact is rather off putting, many brands steadfastly refuse to grasp this fairly obvious insight, as they continue to remind us just how great they are. As if we cared.

When your customers tell you how brilliant you are, that’s an assessment that has meaning. But broadcasting your own generous assessment of yourself lacks a certain credibility. And it’s beside the point. The point is, what can you do for me that I value?

I’ll cite just two recent, glaring examples of corporate narcissism that I was assaulted with, within a span of about 20 minutes while watching TV last night.

Kenmore    That’s Genius.

HTC     Quietly Brilliant.

This is the kind of stuff that gives taglines a bad name. I am perpetually stunned  at just how profoundly, obstinately clueless (I’m trying really hard not to simply say “stupid”) presumably smart marketers can be.

There’s no place for politics in this blog. Except for today. I simply must post this prediction, which in no way endorses any political party or point of view. When, in the next week or so, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker signs the law eliminating most collective bargaining rights from public unions, he will have, with a simple pen stroke, re-elected President Obama.

More accurately, I should say I’m on Inc. That is to say, Tim Donnelly compiled an article on how to write a slogan, which appeared on the Inc. website. In that article he features tips and insights from various industry  bigwigs. And me. Aw shucks. The article, in total, is actually pretty good. Here’s where you’ll find the article:

http://www.inc.com/guides/201101/new-rules-of-writing-a-memorable-slogan.html

Almost simultaneously, a column I’ve written about an example of the power of good tagline has appeared on my colleague, Jay Ehret’s, website,  TheMarketingSpot.com. This is really worth reading because it is an unusual case where you can actually see a sort of quantification of the value of the tagline. Not exactly, but probably as close as we’re likely to get.

http://themarketingspot.com/2011/03/mr-happy-crack-says.html

I would have created links, but I seem to have lost that ability. Go figure.