JetBlue - Wingman

JetBlue - Wingman

In a bid to inject a bit of humanity back into the increasingly detached and automated world of commercial air transport, JetBlue set up a surprisingly interactive storefront display in New York City.

Unsuspecting New Yorkers were drawn to a shop window by what looked like the hologram or video of a JetBlue crewmember inviting them to interact and learn more about the airline’s services. People could select service categories like inflight entertainment, legroom, snacks and more, and then the “hologram” crewmember would proceed to share more information about those services.

All caught on hidden camera, the experience started getting much more interesting when the female crewmember began personalizing the interaction to the individuals. She did this by commenting on their clothing or other specific things that a digital recording could never know, or answering their questions in real time.

Before long customers were laughing and joking and even dancing with the digital image of the crewmember. Then, in a move the everyday New Yorkers were definitely not expecting, their new digital friend appeared in person before their eyes and offered them vouchers for travel with JetBlue, even giving some a big hug.

The JetBlue “Wingman” interacted with more than 2,600 individuals over a weekend in New York, and leading advertising news sources like Adweek and Creativity Online published the story.

Three YouTube videos resulting from the initiative (a full length video of about 2 minutes and two 30 second spots garnered well over 26,000 views in less than 20 days.)