Delta - The Intemetest Saftey Video

Delta - The Intemetest Saftey Video

Delta’s latest meta-move on entertainment safety videos appeals to the ‘Meme Hacking’ trend, as identified in our ‘2013 State of Airline Marketing report’ (pdf) .

An Internet meme is a concept that spreads from person to person via the internet. It can be anything from an image to a video to a hashtag. The popularity of Internet memes and their deep association with the ‘internet culture,’ makes them an effective marketing tool for airlines to create buzz around their brands.

Delta’s video features 19 popular memes, like Charlie Bit My Finger, PBJ Time, Dramatic Chipmunk, and the Ice Bucket Challenge. For the uninformed, Delta also included a cheat-sheet of the memes on the video’s page.

“We see you’re on the Internet. That’s great, because we made a safety video starring the Internet. Now, there’s a lot of Internet out there, and, as such, you might not be familiar with every character in our film. That’s why we’ve included the list below to help you figure out what’s what,” the video summary reads.

Admitting the video was a “ton of fun,” Mauricio Parise, Delta’s director of worldwide marketing communication said:

These memes and cameos tap into the zeitgeist as the latest way of capturing our customers’ attention for our important safety presentation.

Delta’s meme-stream video was released just as YouTube celebrates its 10th birthday and began appearing on Delta aircraft on May 25. It managed to ratchet up 800,000 views on its first day alone—at last count, it’s had 7.8 million views.

Response was mixed, but the video has generated a great deal of buzz.