Cal Brock
Dr. Joe Spencer
MKT 331-FT1
April 9, 2021
Ad Analysis
A good way to avoid marketing mistakes is to observe and understand marketing successes and
failures that global brands have made over time. Along with the many successes, there have
been plenty of failed marketing strategies that can be used to learn from and prevent falling
into a failure.
One failure I researched to understand was the American Airlines AAirpass, which offered
unlimited first-class flights for a flat rate in 1981. During this time period, American Airlines was
short on money and needed a new way to boost revenue and profit quickly. Originally,
American Airlines had the genius idea that would make consumers choose their airline over
others by offering them a pass for unlimited first-class flights for $250,000. The AAirpass had no
limits, giving the consumer the ability to travel anywhere in the world, as many times as the
consumer wanted. Unfortunately, American Airlines learned the hard way that short term
thinking could create many long-term problems. If you offer a product that is unlimited, some
consumers will use it as much as they can, and this is what happened. The AAirpass gave
American Airlines a quick profit in the short term, but quickly turned to a loss over the long
term. In response to the continuing losses from the program, American Airlines launched an
