Southwest Airlines’ open seating policy is over, and it’s not afraid to be honest about the uncertainty, inconvenience, and general chaos that the now-defunct policy could sometimes create.
In a 30-second ad that will run during Peacock’s Super Bowl stream and on linear and local cable in six regions, the airline is playfully reminiscing about its 55-year open seating policy. The spot portrays an exaggerated version of the race to sit next to your travel companions, avoid a middle seat, or check in early enough to get to the front of your boarding group.
The ad opens with an announcement that Southwest boarding has begun, and The Ramones’ Blitzkrieg Bop sets the tone of the pandemonium that follows. Set in what appears to be an overgrown jungle, passengers crash through foliage, swing on vines, and then crawl over one another to get to their preferred seats.
As one desperate passenger screams at someone to get out of the way, the ad pauses and a message flashes across the screen: “That was wild.”
Next, the same desperate passenger is slowly and serenely lowering herself into a seat with her travel companion, as a new message, “assigned seating is here,” is emblazoned over the image in huge letters.
Southwest worked with longtime agency partner GSD&M on the spot, called “Boarding Royale,” directed by Brian Billow. It’s the same team that created “Are You Sitting Down?,” a campaign that announced the end of open seating back in August.
“The challenge on this one was, how do you announce news that is essentially a category norm?” Julia Melle, director of brand and content for Southwest, told ADWEEK. “The answer was, you do it in the only way that feels like us, which is with a sense of humility and a sense of humor.”
The decision to scrap the open seating policy was based on a shift in consumer sentiment following the COVID-19 pandemic, Melle said. People want the option to pick their seats or reserve upgrades like extra space or legroom even if it costs more. Many see assigned seating as a fairer way of allocating space on a plane, she explained.
“It was fun for us to take these insights and some of this Hunger Games-esque behavior that people demonstrated in our open seating policy and just exaggerate it,” Melle said. “[It’s] sort of an homage to the past and also looking forward with excitement to what’s to come.”
