Marketing Gone Mad...

I think the marketing executives at U.S. Airways have lost it. Check out the following article when you have a chance -- "US Airways to Put Ads on Air Sickness Bags."

The article states:

"US Airways is set to sell advertisements on those expandable pint-sized bags stuck in the seat pocket that airline passengers hope to never have to use: air-sickness bags.

Of course, the handy little bags get used for plenty of things other than their true purpose: crayons, Legos and other kids toys; carrying home a little goodie bag of extras from the snack service; wet washcloths from cleaning dirty hands. So, they do get eyeballs beyond those passengers nauseous enough to grab for the bag."

The only type of company who should be advertising on these types of bags are companies that develop medicine for upset stomachs. Why else would any other company really want to advertise on these bags? Here is the analogy I keep thinking about:

When you go out drinking, consume too much of a certain drink and then throw up, most times you are turned off from consuming the drink in the future. Let's switch back to the airsickness bags. You feel sick and you unfortunately have to use the bag while in flight. As you are throwing away the bag, you see an advertisement on it. This is not a positive experience for the consumer and they make think negatively towards the advertiser as well. Moving whenever the consumer sees the product that was advertised on the bag, they are going to remember the airline experience.

The company many gain some exposure from the people using the bags to store “crayons, Legos and other kids toys; carrying home a little goodie bag of extras from the snack service; wet washcloths from cleaning dirty hands.” The positives do not outweigh the negatives in this situation.

Personally, I would recommend almost every company to stay away from this marketing opportunity.