This article from NYTimes.com has been sent to you by psa188@xxxxxxxxx /-------------------- advertisement -----------------------\ THE DREAMERS - NOW PLAYING Set against the turbulent political backdrop of 1968 France when the voice of youth was reverberating around Europe, THE DREAMERS is a story of self-discovery as three students test each other to see just how far they will go. THE DREAMERS is released uncut with an NC-17 rating. Watch The Dreamers trailer at: http://www.thedreamers.com \----------------------------------------------------------/ Advertising: New Airline Campaign March 4, 2004 By MICHELINE MAYNARD THE strains of "Rhapsody in Blue" at the beginning of United Airlines' new television commercials should be familiar to anyone who has hurried through its main terminal at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago or watched its advertisements through the years. The voice at the end of the commercials is also familiar: that of Robert Redford, the actor-director-environmental advocate. It is the first time Mr. Redford is thought to have taken part in a corporate advertising campaign. In between the music and Mr. Redford, United, a unit of the UAL Corporation, has come up with a series of four commercials by well-regarded animators that use muted colors and sentimental stories to depict travelers aboard the airline. The first of the ads, called "Interview," by two Canadian filmmakers, Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby, were broadcast in six cities on Sunday night during the Academy Awards on ABC. Three more commercials are planned through June, appearing primarily on cable television. United also started a print campaign last month, featuring seven advertisements, some by artists whose work has appeared in The New Yorker. Collectively, the ads are United's first corporate effort in five years. And the timing is critical for the airline, which sought bankruptcy protection in December 2002 and hopes to emerge this summer. United executives would not disclose the cost of the advertising campaign, developed by Fallon Worldwide of Minneapolis, part of the Publicis Groupe, which also was behind the campaign for Ted, United's low-fare airline. But United is clearly taking a thrifty approach. It bypassed a nationwide rollout for the commercials Sunday night, showing them in its hub cities of Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington, as well as Minneapolis. Though it plans some use of broadcast networks, it is focusing primarily on cable television networks, and specifically programs watched by business travelers, who are the main focus of the advertising campaign. That is a sharp contrast to its last national campaign, "United Rising," which was widely shown on network television and used George Gershwin's piece as the airline's theme song. "Many things have changed since then, and one of them is that there are more efficient ways to reach your target audience," said Jerry Dow, United's director for worldwide marketing communications. "They've brought back 'Rhapsody in Blue,' but the Dom Pérignon and caviar are not coming back anytime soon," said Robert W. Mann Jr., an airline industry consultant based in Port Washington, N.Y. The airline would not say what Mr. Redford received for his role. Mr. Redford's participation, in fact, was omitted from a Feb. 18 news release announcing the advertising campaign, and was only confirmed by the airline this week. A spokeswoman for Mr. Redford said she was not aware of the commercials and declined to comment. In fact, United had not finalized Mr. Redford's involvement when the commercials were announced, Mr. Dow said. Unlike many movie stars, who readily lend their voices to commercials on television and radio or fly to Japan to film advertisements in return for big paychecks, Mr. Redford has shied away from endorsements. His only previous voiceover work appears to have been a series of public service announcements for the National Wildlife Federation, one of which featured a bald eagle and another a grizzly bear. In this case, Mr. Redford closes each of United's commercials by saying, "Where you go in life is up to you. There's one airline that can take you there. United. It's time to fly." His voice is heard for about seven seconds. The inspiration for using Mr. Redford came from the 1992 movie, "A River Runs Through It," which Mr. Redford directed and narrated, said John Tague, United's executive vice president-customer who is a fan of the film. "There are very few words in these commercials, but they are very important words," Mr. Tague said in an interview this week. "He has a way of delivery that makes you stop and take note of it." United's previous television campaign was narrated by the actor Gene Hackman. Mr. Tague declined to say why Mr. Hackman did not return. He said the airline had another narrator in mind had Mr. Redford decided not to participate. Mr. Tague said the airline signed a contract of an unspecified length with Mr. Redford, who founded the nonprofit Sundance Institute in 1981 to promote independent American film and theater work. The Institute has since spawned the annual Sundance Film Festival and the Sundance Channel on cable television. "Sundance produces a tremendous product; I'd love to have it on our airplanes," said Mr. Tague, who declined to elaborate on other plans. In fact, United's new commercials would be right at home under the Sundance umbrella, a reason why Mr. Tague thinks Mr. Redford decided to participate. The first one, "Interview," has no dialogue, only Gershwin's music accompanying the animation, which depicts a man preparing for a job interview. He pays meticulous attention to every aspect of his grooming until he looks down and realizes he has donned one black shoe and one brown one. Nonetheless, he lands the job. The final scene shows the exhausted man asleep in his airplane seat as Mr. Redford reads the commercial's tag line. Ms. Tilby, who was nominated for a 1999 Academy Award for her animation work with Ms. Forbis, said the two rarely had the opportunity to do commercials. "It's much faster and exhilarating" than the short films they usually produce, she said. Mr. Tague said he was particularly fond of a coming commercial, "Rose," created by the animator Aleksandr Petrov, which shows the journey a rose takes from a passenger's garden, through meetings, on the plane and ultimately to his mother's hand. That commercial will be broadcast on Mother's Day. Other commercials planned by the airline include "A Life," created by Michael Dudok De Wit, who won the 2000 Academy Award for best animated short film. That commercial shows a businessman traveling throughout his career until retirement. Rounding out the commercials is "Lightbulb," by the two-time Academy Award nominee Joanna Quinn, showing a business woman's idea circulating throughout her company in the form of a light bulb. Mr. Mann, the airline analyst, said he was not impressed by the approach, which he said might get lost in an industry more intent on promoting fare sales and seat room. "It's 'Finding Nemo' meets the airlines," he said. But Mr. Tague said he hoped animation would become as much a hallmark for United as "Rhapsody in Blue," which he called "an audio icon." "Everything we see, you can put someone else's logo on it," Mr. Tague said of other airlines' advertisements. "The work that's out there is definitely interchangeable. We definitely wanted to move away from that." http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/04/business/media/04adco.html?ex=1079407702&ei=1&en=72cccb3cb1000cbb --------------------------------- Get Home Delivery of The New York Times Newspaper. Imagine reading The New York Times any time & anywhere you like! Leisurely catch up on events & expand your horizons. Enjoy now for 50% off Home Delivery! Click here: http://www.nytimes.com/ads/nytcirc/index.html HOW TO ADVERTISE --------------------------------- For information on advertising in e-mail newsletters or other creative advertising opportunities with The New York Times on the Web, please contact onlinesales@xxxxxxxxxxx or visit our online media kit at http://www.nytimes.com/adinfo For general information about NYTimes.com, write to help@xxxxxxxxxxxx Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company