Who wants a song and dance from their airline?
We'll soon find out, thanks to Southwest's glitzy musical ads from GSD&M, part of the carrier's overarching "Transfarency" campaign.
Actual airline employees appear in the relentlessly upbeat commercials, lip-syncing and strutting their way through a series of loud, dramatically staged production numbers.
In the anthem spot below, set to Willy Moon's "Yeah Yeah," a terminal morphs into a slammin' club, and Southwest flight attendants Alphonso Thomas and Melissa Salaman, along with other airline employees and lots of dancers, bust moves to the booming beat:
Of course, real airports usually specialize in line dances—long and slow-moving ones—that make folks wanna get away, and stay away. But Southwest works hard to portray its travel experience as irrepressibly positive.
"Last year, we captured Southwest's 'low fares with nothing to hide' philosophy," says GSD&M creative chief Jay Russell. "This year was about making people feel it. And what does it feel like? Simple: It feels like 'Yes.' Yes, you can travel. Yes, you can use your rewards. Yes, Southwest loves flying you."
Next, customer service reps Tammy Davis and Guillermo Rosales join ramp agent Roy Nabors for a karaoke take on Journey's "Any Way You Want It":
Yeah, the '80s never died. (Except in that ad, right? Kidding. Kinda.)
"Every year we host a casting call and give our fabulous employees an opportunity to be the face of Southwest," says Helen Limpitlaw, the airline's ad director. "It's important to us that our people—the ones who make flying enjoyable—represent our brand."
That's how customer service agent Mary Ann Mayo Rodriguez and Captain Brian Kalchbrenner wound up shaking their thangs to "Whatever You Like" by T.I.:
Hey, if the captain's on stage … who's flying the plane!?
Finally, just in case "Yeah Yeah" from the anthem wasn't affirmation enough, customer service rep Michelle Lovett and ramp agent Matt Sherman work it to Jax Jones' "Yeah Yeah Yeah":
Clearly, the work takes a self-consciously wacky approach, and it certainly succeeds in that vein, even if song-and-dance routines might seem more suited to soft-drink commercials than airline ads.
But Southwest's Limpitlaw views the work as a statement of the brand's quirky personality. In her estimation, the more deviation from the category's familiar flight plan, the better.
"We celebrate our constant ability to stand alone," she says. "We embrace that, and it's purposeful. With these ads, we wanted to represent that Southwest is the carrier of choice for getting you where you need to go, but always having some fun along the way."
CREDITS
Client: Southwest Airlines
Agency: GSD&M
Chief Creative Officer: Jay Russell
Group Creative Directors: Scott Brewer, Ryan Carroll, Lara Bridger
Creative Directors: Nikki Baker, Leslie Shaffer
Sibling Creative Team: Rafael Serrano, Laura Canzano, Gus Solis
Planners: Jennifer Billiot, Michael Dezso
Account Service: Carter Nance, Shawn Mackoff, Amy Lyon, Audrey Henderson
Sibling Account Service: Ana Leen
Project Manager: Elizabeth Stelling
Business Affairs Manager: Desiree Townsend
TV:
Art Directors: Mike Ferrer, Judd Oberly
Writers: Mark Snow, Michael Page
Director of Production: Jack Epsteen
Executive Producer: Marianne Newton
Producers: Rob Lee, Lauren Beightler
Prod Company: Smuggler
Director: Jun Diaz
Editorial: Cutters
Editors: Matt Walsh, Grant Gustafson
Out-of-Home/Experiential:
Art Directors: Lisa Donato, Rye Clifton
Writers: Shannon Lorenzon, Hayden Griffin, Amanda Whitehead
Art Buyer: Jessica Spruill
Producer: Leigh Ann Proctor
Account Service: Patty Liendo, Victoria Huffines, Garrett Menichini, Kristen Arsenault