Scoot - Passengers From Hell

Scoot - Passengers From Hell

Airline passengers the world over can relate to that sinking feeling when you realise that you are going to be spending hours next to a so-called passenger from hell. Indeed with close to half a million followers, there is a whole Instagram account dedicated to ‘Passenger Shaming’ . Singaporebased low fares airline Scoot has built a whole campaign around this idea. Scoot’s ‘Passengers from Hell’ initiative was used to promote the fact that you can “max your space” by buying up to two empty seats next to you, thereby avoiding the prospect of spending hours in close proximity to a nightmare seat-mate.

The campaign featured a video where unsuspecting travellers were subjected to the presence of characters ranging from “Bad B.O Bob” to “The Crying Baby”. The passengers were secretly filmed to see if they could get through twenty minutes without reaching their ‘boiling point’ where they get up and try and move seats. Scoot’s own social media fans were invited to take part by coming up with their own names for ‘passengers from hell’ , where travel vouchers were out for the best suggestions. Names submitted included ‘Fidgeting’ Bridget and ‘Snoozer’ Sid. Scoot’s campaign isn’t risk-free and it’s not something every airline could do. Arguably it actually draws attention to a lack of personal space on flights, and the fact that you might as a result be closer to someone you’d really rather not get to know so well.

However this comes from the airline that recently produced a video showing off a “Velcro Suit 2000”, as a way to get around luggage restrictions . As a result, while promoting a real product, the video itself is fun and not to be taken too seriously. Indeed, a suggestion from one Facebook user that the passengers in the films are really paid actors, rather than bona fide members of the public simply elicited a winking smiley face from the airline in response.