http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-10-30/this-preflight-safety-video-is-selling-more-than-safety

Today we are bombarded with advertising, its almost impossible to escape where ever you go, but in some situations it just isn’t ok to be advertising to some one. In the operating room, while firemen extinguish a fire in your home, and perhaps while your being given emergency safety instructions on an air plane. Virgin America has now filmed an over the top, 5 minute theatrical video filled with both song and dance to replace their typical mild mannered to the point preflight safety video. On the surface this could be justified as a way to catch peoples attention, as I know from experience that the classic safety video’s aren’t the most engaging and frequent flyers almost block them out entirely, but they still concisely deliver some very crucial safety information to the passenger. The problem I see with this new “glee” (as stated in the article) like video is that the true purpose behind the video seems to become a blurred combination of engaging people of safety protocol and selling them the Virgin America experience. I feel as though I might be more inclined to watch the entire video, safety might not be what I have going through my head after it. I feel this touches on an ethical issue, that being to what extent the Virgin can/should be held accountable for how distorting the purpose behind the safety video.