American Airlines figures me out

Stuff 1 Minute

A quote from the first paragraph of an American Airlines promotional email I just received:

Dear Paul Cook,

At American Airlines, we know why you fly® – to experience the sweet life of Belgium. Sample the chocolates, stroll the cobbled square and learn the charming customs of Brussels. We’ve even introduced an exclusive fare sale for AAirmailSM and Net SAAver® subscribers in your area so you can get there for less than you think.

Amazing! How do they know that?!? It is indeed true that the sole reason I fly is so that I can experience the sweet life of Belgium. Without the sweet life of Belgium, airplanes would be dead to me. Dead, I tell you.

Methinks someone has been trying a little too hard to work their registered trademark phrases into their emails…

Published by Paul Cook

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7 thoughts on “American Airlines figures me out”

  1. Did they really, really put a registered symbol next to the word “fly”? Or the phrase “we know why you fly”? How does one know legally how many words the symbol covers?

    Maybe someone official should register the Oxford Dictionary and save the English language for the public. Or to save royalties we’ll all have to learn to use Afrikaans.

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  2. Yes, I’d have to guess that the phrase “we know why you fly” is now an owned item. Rather absurd, I agree.

    I mean, imagine the situation: first contact with an alien species. A flying saucer has come all the way from the Andromeda galaxy, to see if there exists conscious life elsewhere. Their simple test: the existence of curiosity. So they ask, “Do you understand the urge to know more? Do you know why we fly?” And for lack of a freely available response, the dumbstruck radio telescope dish operator can say nothing, while the saucer flies off once more, into the night…

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  3. This makes the top ten on the list of Dumbest Trademarks. And it’s also incorrect; they don’t know why some people fly, including me. I just have a death wish and want to go out in a blaze of fire and scrap metal.

    I’m sorely tempted to take the time and mention this to them, just to bring them down a notch. Even though the last time I flew AA was 11 years ago.

    What’s next, registering common phrases and sayings like “life’s too short”?

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  4. “We know why you fly” is the new AA slogAAn. For example, their commericals have showcased a dad getting a cheap ticket so that he can spend the weekend with his family as AA has removed the Saturday Night Stay requirement… blah blah blah.

    These days, airlines just have bad slogans. In the frequent flyer community, the new AA slogan is being made fun of as it sounds kinda like Big Brother. “We know why you fly” because a) we have a hidden camera in your house or b) we have implanted a chip that monitors your behavio(u)r. The “Good goes around” slogan in Delta is equally stupid. But, my least favo(u)rite of all time is CO’s “Work hard. Fly Right”

    “It’s time to fly”SM

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  5. And speaking of bizarre company claims and policies, it seems anyone using the colour red owe Royal Mail in the UK some money:

    What next?!

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  7. That’s funny, Bert. 🙂 Though I don’t know what’s funnier, the corny company slogans or the fact that you have insider knowledge of the goings on in the frequent flyer community.

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