The Persuaders: "Song" Fails To Get Off The Gound

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The film “The Persuaders” was a fascinating look at the world of advertising. In this movie we try and discover how advertisers break through the clutter of millions of other commercials in an attempt to persuade you to look at THEIR product. It’s all about proving that their product is the one that deserves your precious attention (and money.)

Throughout the course of the film, there was focus on a new airline, “Song,” and how it was trying to get off the ground (pun absolutely intended.) I was very interested in the creative (and sometimes silly) ways that the “Song” team tried to market the new airline.

I really enjoyed seeing the footage of the “Song” party. There was one scene where a “Song” commercial was being played on the back of a airline seat because the airline had equipped it’s seats with tiny video monitors on their backs. I also love that one of their main selling points was the different colors that the airlines would be.

            I thought that the silliest thing was the way that the “Song” team tried to make the phrase “That’s so Song” a cool new catchphrase, like it was going to catch on and people were going to seriously be using that to describe something. I loved the interview between with the man and woman who were talking (mostly jokingly) about how “Song” their lives were.

            I enjoy seeing any brainstorming sessions for just about anything. The way that people throw around ideas, some silly, some terrible, some brilliant. I love listening to people creating and building on ideas, or transforming them to make something altogether different. There is an edge here because ideas in these sessions can either build or break a company. They can mean someone’s career.

            What’s interesting, though, is that after seeing ALL of the effort that this team went through to make this airline take off (also totally intended), things still didn’t pan out. “Song” only stayed in business for three years. I had never heard of it before viewing this film. It just shows you that you can put so much effort into cutting through the clutter, but whether it catches on or not is anyone’s guess.