Thank You For Flying Billboard Air
Paul Maidment, 07.19.06, 4:30 PM ET
The big news in advertising is not that The Wall Street Journal is going to be running advertisements on its front page.
Newspapers a century ago were doing that. And the The Times of London's front page was all advertising until as late as the 1960s. It didn't put news there until after Canadian press baron Roy, later Lord Thomson, bought it from the Astor family in 1966.
Also not news: Word that The New York Times plans to trim its flagship paper's size as part of its cost-saving measures. Trimming an inch or two doesn't really compare to the decision by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. (nyse: NWS - news - people ) to switch the The Times from broadsheet to a cheaper tabloid format. As for the recent addition of ads to the front of the Gray Lady's business section, European papers have been doing that forever.
No, the big news in advertising is that US Airways (nyse: LCC - news - people ) has decided to sell advertising space on its air-sickness bags. Well, they are there in every seat-back pocket, and we all know how fully booked domestic U.S. flights are these days, so where there are eyeballs, even slightly bilious ones...
US Airways probably got the idea from America West (nyse: AWA - news - people ), with which it merged last year. America West pioneered tray table advertising along with selling in-flight meals--adding insult to injury so to speak.
Or it may have gotten it from Australian airline Qantas' local carrier, Jetstar, which reportedly was hawking the same idea last year.
Given its parlous financial condition, the U.S. airline industry can't afford to overlook any idea for squeezing more profit out of its long-suffering passengers. All they need is the kind of imagination shown by outfits such as discount Irish airline Ryanair (nasdaq: RYAAY - news - people ), which lets companies paint ads on the outside of its aircraft for $100,000 (car rental firm Hertz was one customer), or Air New Zealand, which advertised the film Lord of the Rings. As far back as 1996, an Air France (nyse: AKH - news - people ) Concorde was painted blue to launch PepsiCo's (nyse: PEP - news - people ) Pepsi Blue.
We say U.S. carriers can do even better and have only started to scratch the surface of their in-flight advertising opportunities:
Overhead Bins: The doors are just the right shape for the sort of ads you get in subway cars. A long flight is the perfect time to contemplate if you really might want that laser surgery.
Head Rests: Prime space at eye level, and the audience is strapped in front of it for long periods. Could an advertiser want more?
Luggage: Why not pop a couple decals on every bag? The only drawback here is if they get lost, but how often does that happen?
Aisle Lights: Today, they have only those little bulbs that help passengers find the exit in the event of an emergency. Replace the lights with liquid-crystal-display tickers that can scroll text ads the rest of the time.
Uniform Sponsorships for Flight Attendants: Soccer clubs make big money from letting companies put their logos on their players' shirts. So do racing cars. Why not slap some on the drink cart while we're at it?
Emergency Rafts and Slides: Talk about matching customers and services! What personal-injury lawyer could resist the opportunity to promote themselves to a highly motivated crowd of survivors bobbing around at sea?
Pilots' Announcements: Its just like radio, but better. You can't turn it off, you can't change the dial. "Ladies and gentleman, this is your captain speaking. The following flight delay is sponsored by..."
Aircraft Wings: That is where the first aerial ads were placed in the 1920s. There really is nothing new under the sun.
h34r: 
