American Airlines has embarked on a novel, verging-on-shameless new marketing campaign gently reminding passengers to stay civil in the skies.
Because "great flyers make the best of their situation," the ads encourage polite behavior such as ceding armrests to the person in the middle seat and asking those in your row for permission before you raise or lower the window shade.
American doesn't intend to offer you a better experience, mind you. Instead, the company wants you, in essence, to grin and bear the ordeal it evidently knows it's putting you through. As Consumerist puts it:
"Your seat, the airline seems to concede, will be horribly unpleasant. Conditions will be cramped. Everyone will be angry and tired. So instead of advertising features—like WiFi or in-flight entertainment—that could make you want to fly with them, they’re trying a new tactic: asking you not to be a jerk."
It's hard to think of another industry in the history of commerce that has advertised itself as an opportunity to improve the customer's attitude by testing the limits of that customer's patience with a painful experience.
Whoever makes those knotted whips for monks to flagellate themselves with should take note.
