United Airlines has just unveiled a new safety video, and I’m not sure what exactly to make of it…
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United Airlines’ new “Safety in Motion” video
United Airlines has today released its newest safety video, named “Safety in Motion.” You won’t find it on flights immediately — instead, it’ll debut on select aircraft as of May 25, 2024, and will roll out across the fleet over the summer. United has reportedly been working on this new video since June 2023, so it has been a long time coming.
The new video was filmed inside a life-sized, airplane-inspired sequential reaction machine. The video follows a ball as it makes its way through the sequential reaction machine, rolling and bouncing through airplane-inspired set-ups that include chutes, a snack cart, a drink cup, seatbelts, windows, seats, directional signage, and more.
The video features 17 real United employees from across the airline, including flight attendants, customer service agents, rampers, tech operations, network operations, and reservations employees. Old school United fans will appreciate the use of “Rhapsody in Blue” by George Gershwin, which has been a consistent feature in United’s safety videos over the years.
I imagine the timing of this new video being announced is no coincidence. For the past several weeks, the FAA has increased oversight of United, but that restrictions are finally being rolled back now. United highlights how the safety video has been approved by the FAA.
You can watch the new United safety video for yourself below.
For context, below is the safety video that United has been playing up until now.
Here’s how Maggie Schmerin, United’s Chief Advertising Officer, describes the new video:
“The safest safety video is one that passengers actively watch. Our creative concept was inspired by the idea of connection and the many moments of any given day that our employee work groups have to connect to be able to get thousands of flights off the ground and to their destinations safely. We worked across the airline to ensure our new safety video clearly and succinctly communicates critical information in a way passengers can’t help but watch – no matter their age, background or experience traveling.”
My take on United Airlines’ new safety video
I have mixed feelings on United’s new safety video. First of all, I found the video to be quite creative, so I appreciate that aspect of it. So many airlines have taken the same creative direction with safety videos, and I’ve never seen anything quite like what United has published.
All that being said, am I the only one who finds the video highly distracting? I just watched the entire video in one go, and at the end of the video I realized that I didn’t remember a single thing that was said in the video, as I was too distracted by following the ball. I’m curious if I’m the only one who feels that way.
The video certainly captures the attention of passengers, though not to the safety instructions, in my opinion. It’s ironic, because United claims the video offers “clear, easy-to-follow demonstrations of critical safety procedures,” and that the video is a “creative concept designed to capture and keep the attention of even the most frequent fliers.”
The other thing is that I can’t help but find the theme a bit weird, and maybe it’s just because I’m an avgeek. If you ask me, it would be a lot more fun to highlight how cool planes are, and/or how many places United flies, rather than focusing on… a ball?
Bottom line
United Airlines has unveiled its new safety video, named “Safety in Motion.” The video has some captivating visuals. This is no doubt a video that people will watch carefully. I certainly did. The only problem is that I didn’t actually retain anything that was said, but rather was so focused on the ball.
What do you make of United’s new safety video?
Having spent some years in the advertising/marketing world, United's video will likely win an award or two for its creative take on the topic and probably lots of likes and pass-alongs.
But, as a professional pilot for most of my life, this product completely misses one of the most essential requirements of a proper pre-takeoff passenger briefing: carry-on bags. I realize the video mentioned the topic, but no airline ever really emphasizes to passengers that...
Having spent some years in the advertising/marketing world, United's video will likely win an award or two for its creative take on the topic and probably lots of likes and pass-alongs.
But, as a professional pilot for most of my life, this product completely misses one of the most essential requirements of a proper pre-takeoff passenger briefing: carry-on bags. I realize the video mentioned the topic, but no airline ever really emphasizes to passengers that trying to drag their carry-ons with them in an emergency risks their own lives and other people's lives by slowing the evacuation process tremendously.
A quick look at the recent collision at Haneda airport in Japan shows that the Japanese flight attendants didn't put up with that carry-on crap from anyone. And everyone got out of that burning airplane safely.
both are distracting.
Cute! It kept my attention.
That is almost 5 minutes of my life I won't get back on each flight I take. it is very distracting and way too long to expect people to have retention on the content. If the video was under 2 minutes and delivered content we could easily remember... it would be better.
I tend to follow the ball the whole time. It's kind of brilliant, but going to be lost on most
From Wikipedia
A Rube Goldberg machine, named after American cartoonist Rube Goldberg, is a chain reaction–type machine or contraption intentionally designed to perform a simple task in an indirect and (impractically) overly complicated way. Usually, these machines consist of a series of simple unrelated devices; the action of each triggers the initiation of the next,...
I tend to follow the ball the whole time. It's kind of brilliant, but going to be lost on most
From Wikipedia
A Rube Goldberg machine, named after American cartoonist Rube Goldberg, is a chain reaction–type machine or contraption intentionally designed to perform a simple task in an indirect and (impractically) overly complicated way. Usually, these machines consist of a series of simple unrelated devices; the action of each triggers the initiation of the next, eventually resulting in achieving a stated goal.
Agree that the old one has a sense of charm from the different locations United travels to, definitely gets my attention and puts me in the travel spirit.
Meanwhile the motion and sounds of the ball rolling around just… jarring? Abrasive? It doesn’t feel like a safety video, it doesn’t feel like a travel video.
Looks like the old AA video. . .not a fan. Much prefer BA's video with the celebrities and comidians or good old Deltalina!
Someone been watching too many TikToks…
How I would grade the new video:
Creativity: A
Effective message: D+
The video is too dependent on language. The visuals should be the actual seat or something more illustrative. If you turn off the volume, some warnings are completely lost.
They should speak slowly and have English subtitles, as well as subtitles of the language of the foreign destination.
Looks very focused on their DEI hires.
You also look obsessively focused on their DEI hires.
I like to think of myself as a safety video enthusiast I even keep a YouTube playlist. I really dislike this video. During the Polaris sea shoulder belt demonstration I find it hilarious that they use an awful fake seat instead of advertising what is actually a competitive seat.
Delta’s safety video won 30 Academy Awards, making it the best safety video in the history of history.
I'm always listening to music from the time I board until cell service ends as the plane nears 10,000 feet. The New York City Rockets could be doing the safety video and I wouldn't notice. From what I observe most other people are also engrossed into a screen once they board.
I agree with the comment about it being distracting - and overall it is quite weird. I certainly prefer the previous "Safety is Global" series as it showcases destinations and people. It is nice to see the new uniform refresh in action - looks crisp. The acting in this particular video is strange, as well - perhaps that is a product of an AI / green screen environment? The blond-haired flight attendant in particular seems...
I agree with the comment about it being distracting - and overall it is quite weird. I certainly prefer the previous "Safety is Global" series as it showcases destinations and people. It is nice to see the new uniform refresh in action - looks crisp. The acting in this particular video is strange, as well - perhaps that is a product of an AI / green screen environment? The blond-haired flight attendant in particular seems overly performative / too casual for the overall theme. The blurred out handshaking part at the end is very cheesy.
I don't personally find the ball too distracting, but it's certainly a strange thematic through line to build an airline safety video around. A rolling ball doesn't exactly evoke any plane or travel related imagery to me. That said, the old United video was getting quite long in the tooth so I suppose it was time for a new one.
Your comment regarding the thematics captures it best, though in my case I did find it potentially distracting t times. Distracting enough that people may not remember the instructions, or just stop watching it completely.
The creators probably think they are cool but they are not.
I couldn’t agreed more. Love the creativity, but the only thing I could focus on was following the ball.
When I first moved to Singapore I found it amusing that small children say " I need to pass motion" when they need to go to the toilet. So when I hear the title of this new video it seems apposite. United will make it safe when you need a number two!
Good job Maggie. I will let the higher ups know.