The ad has all the elements that represent the Southwest: throbbing guitar music, a howling coyote, the stunning landscape outside Moab - and actor Jack Palance peering from under a black cowboy hat and growling a tongue-in-cheek tribute:
"I'll tell you children how it was before the skies were freed,"To fly somewhere, you needed wealth. It was a luxury.
"Then Southwest Airlines came along and democratized the skies.
"Now every man, woman and child is free to pack up and fly."
Palance stars in two humorous Southwest television commercials that are reminiscent of his popular "City Slickers" movie role. They debuted recently to launch the airline's new advertising strategy. They've aired on FOX's NFL Sunday games and during ABC's Monday Night Football.
A full-page ad also appeared in Monday's USA Today. The campaign's slogan is: "Southwest Airlines - A Symbol of Freedom."
Southwest, which is 25 years old, is repositioning itself in the market by "rebranding" the company.
"If you look at the industry, before we started one out of every four Americans had flown. Now three out of every four have had the opportunity to have air travel. We really opened up the skies," said Joyce Rogge, Southwest's vice president of advertising and promotions. "The DOT (Department of Transportation) has given us credit for making that whole thing happen."
Rogge said Southwest is the original low-fare airline and has successfully forced competitors to lower their prices, which means more people can fly.
However, the airline needed a new advertising strategy for a couple of reasons.
"With the onrush of Southwest look-alikes and others emulating our service, that low-fare ladder was getting a little crowded," Rogge said. "We thought it was time to develop a new positioning that would not only say who we are but what we stand for and what our values are."
In addition, Rogge said that providing travelers with freedom meant more than simply offering low fares. It also means such things as frequent flights, flights to smaller cities and good service.
Rogge declined to give numbers but said this national promotion cost more than others, although it was relatively inexpensive by industry standards.
Future ads will continue the "symbol of freedom" theme but won't feature Palance. "We saw him as the big force to kind of carry this launch," Rogge said. "We were afraid we couldn't get him, but Jack was available and real excited about it."
The campaign will extend through 1997.
Rogge said Southwest's pricing will remain the same and it will continue to emphasizes prices and routes in local advertising efforts. Additionally, the airline has added longer routes such as Phoenix to Nashville and will continue to do so as it expands into other markets.