Airports get their own theme songs

by Catherine Bodry on

More and more airports are (trying to become) destinations in themselves, and as such, airport branding is emerging as a tactic for getting travelers to choose one airport or city over another. We wrote about celebrities making announcements at various airports, but here’s a new one: theme songs.

Although I don’t really think that ‘theme song” is the best designation for this activity (“advertising ditty” seems more appropriate), it’s hard to deny that once you get a jingle stuck in your head, it’s hard to get it out. That’s why, years later, I can still sing commercial songs like “Who likes Trident? I do I do,” and “Plop plop fizz fizz, oh what a relief it is!” Although airports aren’t likely to freshen your breath or help with indigestion, they do hope to create an experience memorable enough that the next time you’re buying your tickets, you pick theirs for a layover or destination.

The Hunstville, Texas airport got a theme song in the hopes that it will help convince travelers to choose it over Nashville or Birmingham, Alabama. And LAX took an older (sadder) song and changed its tune to be perky and fun. Southwest Airlines handed out CDs of the song to all of its incoming L.A. passengers in 2003. I even found one for the Hyderabad, India airport.

Elite Green Car – and other unusual word combinations

by Leif Pettersen on

Here’s a Super-Duper Secret Leif Pettersen Tip to Hilarious Writing (SDSLPTHW): when you’re hurting for a joke, just throw in unexpected word combinations.

Examples: “muscular fart”, “righteous taco”, “likeable president”

Accordingly, when I tried to write the first paragraph of this post and had to arrange the words ‘luxury’, ‘eco-friendly’, ‘chauffer’, ‘Lexus’, ‘hybrid’ and ‘Atlanta’ in an interesting way, it was unexpectedly funny. Not ha-ha funny, but you know…

Elite Green Car is the cause of today’s wordsmith oddity. Launched this month, the company offers eco-friendly chauffeured transportation in the Atlanta area via their fleet of luxury full-size Lexus RX 400 hybrid cars. (See what I mean? Tee hee!)

All kidding aside, there’s a certain inexplicable thrill to tooling around in a swanky, Super Ultra-Low Emission Lexus that boasts “maximum fuel efficiency along with capturing lost energy from braking and deceleration as electric power to recharge the battery”, currently rated as the most energy efficient car on the market.

Elite Green Car is the brainchild of entrepreneur Mike Kersten, a certified pilot, avid outdoorsman and father of two. Concerned about Atlanta’s notorious environmental stresses, Kersten resolved to “fuel” his passion for the planet by launching the Elite Green Car service in his adopted home town.

So, you’re traveling in style with a minimal carbon footprint, what else do you get for your money? Elite’s vehicles are equipped with XM NavTraffic, GPS Tracking (“ensuring that the fuel-efficient ride travels the most efficient routes, minimizing toxic emissions”), WiFi services, Sirius Satellite Radio, DVD, CD, surround sound capabilities and DriveCam’s behavior-based risk mitigation solution. Is technology great or what?

Elite’s primary services include airport transportation, corporate travel, VIP/Executive transportation and special events and occasions. Though, I don’t think they’d be opposed to (unexpected word combination warning) “environmentally responsible gnarly joy ride, dude” (SDSLPTHW: that’s called a “throw back joke”).

Kersten is planning on expanding to Nashville, Charleston, Birmingham and, the eco-friendly center of the universe, San Francisco in 2008.

One Hundred Very Angry U.S. Cities

by Adrienne Wilson on

Why this list of angry U.S. cities makes me laugh – I don’t know? Could it be that Orlando, the very home of Disney World’s Magic Kingdom and Mickey Mouse ranks number one for some bizarre reason? Maybe it’s because my city (Tampa, FL) ranks 12 and the near by St. Petersburg, FL comes in second? So my first question is this – what’s up with all the anger Florida?

World Hum points readers to a fine piece from Men’s Health focusing on 100 very angry U.S. cities. The ranking was based off factors like percentage of men with high blood pressure, FBI rates of aggravated assaults, Bureau of Labor Statistics numbers on workplace deaths from assaults and other violence in addition to road rage. Whew! With all those ugly factors and Orlando placing tops on the anger totem, some of you may be a little afraid to see where your place of residence ranks. Others may not be so surprised.