ANA Ad crashes and burns

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

It freaked me out the last time I was there - all the retail/service staff I dealt with seemed to be young Europeans. And the "bobbies" carry submachine guns.

And levels of service have skyrocketed as a result.

Can understand the bobbies...I would want to be armed with a sub-machine in a cuntry full of Poms, too.

[legion]

Are you sure? I wouldn't have known that ANA are increasing international flights and destinations out of Haneda, but I certainly am aware of it now.

Are they now your preferred airline?

[wagyl]

I have no airline loyalty. If they are flying at the right time between the right places with the right connections and offer value for money, they get my custom.

Maybe you are asking whether I see this as a reason to strike them off my list. My answer to that question is "No."

I wonder if that makes me an Uncle Tom....


I don't think that it is the aim of airline advertising to make itself a customer's preferred carrier. That can only happen by providing a good travel experience itself. Advertising can however have the aim to make customers aware of new options for travel, and I think this has gained enough notoriety for them to have achieved that aim. I don't know whether it was a deliberate strategy, I think on balance it might not have been. But I don't think they will lose existing customers over this.

[legion]

It is your power as a consumer to decide which service you wish to use.

[yanpa]

I have no airline loyalty. If they are flying at the right time between the right places with the right connections and offer value for money, they get my custom.

Same here, except I will never again pay money to Ryanair ("putting the 'cattle' in 'cattle class'"), and I have never seen any reason to fly Aeroflot unless I really really wanted to land in Russia.

SAS is a borderline case because last time they wanted money for the second and subsequent beer on an intercontinental flight, which is Pushing It™.

[yanpa]

It freaked me out the last time I was there - all the retail/service staff I dealt with seemed to be young Europeans. And the "bobbies" carry submachine guns.

And levels of service have skyrocketed as a result.

Can understand the bobbies...I would want to be armed with a sub-machine in a cuntry full of Poms, too.

Well, it seems to have solved the infestation of Antipodeans which was so prevalent in the 90's/00's.

[legion]

Seems airlines can build brand disloyalty more easily than brand loyalty.

If the only consideration for an airline was the route and schedule that would be all they would need to advertise, but on any route and any schedule they will have competition, so they have to find something to differentiate themselves. If you attach electrodes to peoples brains and send them around a supermarket to make everyday purchases you will see that when they come to choose an item from a shelf the emotional regions of the brain are the ones which light up. The final purchase decision is an emotional one, so given a choice between the 10.15 and the 10.23 flight out of Haneda, which one do you opt for?

[wagyl]

It is your power as a consumer to decide which service you wish to use.

Indeed. And I make those decisions, based on the standards which suit me. Not based on public opinion or image.

I agree that loyalty is easier to lose than to maintain. However, I still maintain that this is not enough to turn me off ANA. What turns me off an airline (and there are two airlines I can think of which are off my list) is poor response to a problem, especially one of their own making, and overall disrespect for you as a person, from checkin conditions to deplaning. It seems that for some people, they would like to think that this commercial is disrespecting them as a person too, maybe you are one of them, but I am not.

It has been a number of years since I have flown on someone else's expenses, but back in the days when I only had the choice of international offered by JAL or by ANA (and yes, those flights are very closely scheduled to compete) I chose ANA each available time, based on the overall experience. JAL never seemed to put in enough effort.

If only ANA would give me my fruit platter without me having to create a religion.

[yanpa]

I have no airline loyalty. If they are flying at the right time between the right places with the right connections and offer value for money, they get my custom.

Same here, except I will never again pay money to Ryanair ("putting the 'cattle' in 'cattle class'"), and I have never seen any reason to fly Aeroflot unless I really really wanted to land in Russia.

SAS is a borderline case because last time they wanted money for the second and subsequent beer on an intercontinental flight, which is Pushing It™.

Oh yes, and any of those airlines which is based in sand - infested regions of the Middle East because I don't want to run the risk of being thrown into one of their gaijin gulags because Japanese customs once used my luggage for sniffer dog training and it is still contaminated with micrograms of hash .

[wagyl]

Oh yes, and any of those airlines which is based in sand - infested regions of the Middle East because I don't want to run the risk of being thrown into one of their gaijin gulags because Japanese customs once used my luggage for sniffer dog training and it is still contaminated with micrograms of hash .

That is a shame. Some airlines, with some cabin baggage, they are most convenient.

I want to know about the incident with seven falcons in economy which lead to that regulation

[Russell]

LOL, that must be fun to sit next to a passenger with a falcon shitting all over the place during a 12-hour flight...

[Coligny]

LOL, that must be fun to sit next to a passenger with a falcon shitting all over the place during a 12-hour flight...

Well... At least the falcon might reach destination alive...

Because:

For an additional fee, pets and other live animals can be carried as cargo or checked baggage. The owner or customer is responsible for ensuring that the animal is housed, fed, and watered adequately for the journey.

I don't know how I'm supposed to hydrate a cat every hour if he's in the cargo bay.

Wonder what kind of retriction they impose when you want to travel with 1 or more women...
Usually with these countries women are listed somewhere after goats but before pigs.

[Coligny]

There are strict regulations about carrying dangerous goods either as cargo or checked baggage. Please contact your local Qatar Airways office if you intend to travel with any of the following:
Aerosol cans
Automotive parts
Camping equipment (flammable liquids and compressed gas)
Dental equipment
Diagnostic specimens
Diving equipment (gas bottles must be emptied)
Drilling and mining equipment
Dry ice
Electrical equipment
Expeditionary equipment
Fireworks
Frozen embryos
Gas cylinders
Household cleaning agents
Household goods (paints, aerosols and flammable liquids)
Instruments containing mercury
Paint
Photographic equipment
Racing car equipment
Repair kits
Toolboxes
Vaccines
Wet cell batteries

Feels like reading something from the onion...

These idiots are really allowed to fly to european destinations ?
Operate planes ?
Touch pointy tools ?
Leave their padded cells

[matsuki]

It is your power as a consumer to decide which service you wish to use.

Indeed. And I make those decisions, based on the standards which suit me. Not based on public opinion or image.

I agree that loyalty is easier to lose than to maintain. However, I still maintain that this is not enough to turn me off ANA. What turns me off an airline (and there are two airlines I can think of which are off my list) is poor response to a problem, especially one of their own making, and overall disrespect for you as a person, from checkin conditions to deplaning. It seems that for some people, they would like to think that this commercial is disrespecting them as a person too, maybe you are one of them, but I am not.

It has been a number of years since I have flown on someone else's expenses, but back in the days when I only had the choice of international offered by JAL or by ANA (and yes, those flights are very closely scheduled to compete) I chose ANA each available time, based on the overall experience. JAL never seemed to put in enough effort.

If only ANA would give me my fruit platter without me having to create a religion.

I used to be an ANA fan but shitty problem after problem and their lack of any responsibility for their fuckups has got me using Singapore Airlines each time. (Singapore also has better food, is cheaper, and is more than accommodating when it comes to excess and over sized luggage) The CM just further enforces their ignorance and how out of touch they are...so once again I say, Fuck ANA

[Yokohammer]

The ad is back (saw it on a satellite channel last night), but without the fake nose and wig. The rest is unchanged.

[GomiGirl]

The ad is back (saw it on a satellite channel last night), but without the fake nose and wig. The rest is unchanged.

They must have paid a huge amount of money for the campaign so I doubt they are just going to dump it. Plus it would take a while for them to get a new campaign designed and implemented with (I suspect) a new ad company.

Somebody probably lost their job over this.

[kurogane]

Somebody probably lost their job over this.

Which is probably the best testament to the initial excuse that it was "self-depreciating humour". Whether the person fired laughed or not, it was self-depreciating.................

So, any further word on any further Real World Fallout???? Surely only a person whose birth name rhymes with Bald Krinkle could actually be offended by that Soviet level of comically dogmatic stupidity????

Anyhoo, I used to use ANA when it was offered because I went to school with the Cdn Nisei stewardesses (YVR-NRT) and got the old friend treatment, stopped when all offers either came as JAL tickets or 'suggested' I use JAL. and will certainly be considering returning to ANA now that they have a non-stop Van to Haneda route (as of March 30) for $3000 Cdn in Busyness. The only complaint I have ever had about them was the "White People MUST Speak English" rule many of the Jpn Dragon Lady types enforced, but I have heard lots of niggling complaints about bad service as Choko mentioned.

This Haneda Vancouver route could be very nice for anybody looking to fly to Canada or western NA. Flying from Haneda is so retro it just has to be cool. I wonder if they plan to offer special discounts to passengers offering to fly in White Face????

[legion]

Indeed. And I make those decisions, based on the standards which suit me. Not based on public opinion or image.

I agree that loyalty is easier to lose than to maintain. However, I still maintain that this is not enough to turn me off ANA. What turns me off an airline (and there are two airlines I can think of which are off my list) is poor response to a problem, especially one of their own making, and overall disrespect for you as a person, from checkin conditions to deplaning. It seems that for some people, they would like to think that this commercial is disrespecting them as a person too, maybe you are one of them, but I am not.

It has been a number of years since I have flown on someone else's expenses, but back in the days when I only had the choice of international offered by JAL or by ANA (and yes, those flights are very closely scheduled to compete) I chose ANA each available time, based on the overall experience. JAL never seemed to put in enough effort.

If only ANA would give me my fruit platter without me having to create a religion.

One of the most common aims for an ad is to put the product on the consumer's consideration list, after that a good or bad experience will either build or destroy loyalty. We are not as rational in our decisions as we would like to think, I'd guess we remember the good or bad experience because of the emotion it aroused in us. Airlines do usually seem to focus on route, leg room, good looking staff, good service. I think ANA came a cropper here because they tried to be clever and position themselves as the carrier for the new Abenomics Japan.

I've been here so long that these ads wash over me, I've seen much worse than this, but I will make the conscious decision not to use a product or service because of the company's ethical failing. For example I won't use Starbucks because of their tax evasion (call it what you like) and I won't use Amazon because of both their tax evasion and their treatment of their staff. Not using Amazon is currently an issue for me because there are two records I want which I can only find there, but such is life.

Obviously we cannot cover all our ethical bases, but it is important as consumers that we make a stand, and make it known we are, or we can just accept that the much mooted global corporations will become more and more aloof and abusive. The company I work for is multi layered, our ultimate owners score high on ethics, high percentage of women in senior positions, clear policy on equal opportunities, transparency, discrimination etc. Every year we all have to take a test on the code of conduct, each year with a different focus, it is possible to educate your staff, if the will is there.

[legion]

The ad is back (saw it on a satellite channel last night), but without the fake nose and wig. The rest is unchanged.

They must have paid a huge amount of money for the campaign so I doubt they are just going to dump it. Plus it would take a while for them to get a new campaign designed and implemented with (I suspect) a new ad company.

Somebody probably lost their job over this.

People lost their jobs over this one

http://adage.com/article/global-news/jwt-india-sacks-staffers-responsible-offensive-ford-ad/240555/

In Japan I think it will depend on the agency, if it was Dentsu my guess is the guys will be transferred to Nagoya or China for a while.

[Wage Slave]

@Legion. Very nicely said. And yes, you're right.

[legion]

The ad is back (saw it on a satellite channel last night), but without the fake nose and wig. The rest is unchanged.

Sounds like they knew it was risky and had already made a safety version.

[wagyl]

The ad is back (saw it on a satellite channel last night), but without the fake nose and wig. The rest is unchanged.

They must have paid a huge amount of money for the campaign so I doubt they are just going to dump it. Plus it would take a while for them to get a new campaign designed and implemented with (I suspect) a new ad company.

Somebody probably lost their job over this.

People lost their jobs over this one

http://adage.com/article/global-news/jwt-india-sacks-staffers-responsible-offensive-ford-ad/240555/

In Japan I think it will depend on the agency, if it was Dentsu my guess is the guys will be transferred to Nagoya or China for a while.

So the client has zero responsibility for signing off on the commercial? Your Indian example didn't have client approval.

[Russell]

So, ANA pulled the ad immediately when they became aware it was offensive to some people. And still those people want to boycott ANA. That does not seem logical to me.

Anyway, I didn't give a hooter about that ad, and I will continue to use ANA, because of the good experiences I have had with them.

[legion]

So the client has zero responsibility for signing off on the commercial? Your Indian example didn't have client approval.

In India it was a scam ad, the seedy end of the advertising industry.

Obviously someone at ANA signed off on the ad, they also paid for the media which will dwarf with production costs, which is why they are running the watered down version.

Failure is an orphan, success has many fathers, in Japan the process is so layered & crowded that failure has many fathers, none of whom are ever responsible. One thing you can be sure of, if ANA had came up with an award winning campaign, the guy who would be lapping up the limelight will not be the guy who will get it in the neck for this. The ANA guy will blame the agency, saying they told him (most likely to be a him, unless some pushy upstart woman gets landed with the blame....) that the ad was funny & OK, the agency will blame the 2nd tier creatives, who will blame the freelance director they employed, who won't give a shit because s/he only does CMs because it pays so well, but s/he will blame the foreigners for not taking a joke.

[legion]

So, ANA pulled the ad immediately when they became aware it was offensive to some people. And still those people want to boycott ANA. That does not seem logical to me.

Anyway, I didn't give a hooter about that ad, and I will continue to use ANA, because of the good experiences I have had with them.

If you put your hand on a lady's ass on the train and only took it off when she complained I think you'd still find yourself in the koban.

[Russell]

I think this is a case of incompetence on ANA's part.

When one puts his hand on a woman's ass, that is not incompetence.

[Coligny]

I think this is a case of incompetence on ANA's part.

When one puts his hand on a woman's ass, that is not incompetence.

D00d, incometence at corporate level is somthing worrissome in many industry sectors...

Gap or Uniqlo, no big deal...

For Airline companies... Much more troublesome...

http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articl ... im-362687/

So they can't handle Choko's luggage, they pilots have troubles with all those complicamated cockpit switches and their PR dep seems to br as clueless as the rest...

Start giving a bad picture no ?

[yanpa]

If we're looking for more ANA-bashing reasons, the in-laws were very unsatisfied with their business class service on a flight to/from Europe recently.

Also, at Haneda Airport in 1993, when they were still bussing people out to planes, the bus stopped at the wrong plane, which caused a great deal of confusion.

[IparryU]

I've been here so long that these ads wash over me, I've seen much worse than this, but I will make the conscious decision not to use a product or service because of the company's ethical failing. For example I won't use Starbucks because of their tax evasion (call it what you like) and I won't use Amazon because of both their tax evasion and their treatment of their staff. Not using Amazon is currently an issue for me because there are two records I want which I can only find there, but such is life.

What about Apple and Google?

The govt don't deserve all that money IMO. They shouldn't have gave Washington a 1% raise when everyone else is sucking shit through a straw and they shouldn't be as involved as they are now... But that is how it is.

Sent from my SC-03E using Tapatalk.

[wagyl]

Thank you for your post Legion, it had many deep comments.

i especially liked your description here

Failure is an orphan, success has many fathers, in Japan the process is so layered & crowded that failure has many fathers, none of whom are ever responsible.

I have been tied up in that process myself more than once, I am aware of it but that is a brilliant way of expressing it.

I laughed at this

the seedy end of the advertising industry.

and which end is that? Haha.


And the most poignant was this

s/he will blame the foreigners for not taking a joke.

I think there may ba a degree of truth in that.