Amelia Earhart and the Consumer the Relationship

Flying and How Amelia Makes it "Thinkable"

The Amelia Earhart website does continue to make flying thinkable because it showcases flying as such an adventurous, bold and beautiful -- not just mode of transportation -- but way of life. The fact that the first video link is to the trailer for the Hollywood movie Amelia (2009) staring Hillary Swank just emphasizes the point: Amelia (the brand) has embodied the spirit of Americanism, Freedom, and Flying for generations of Americans -- making the concept of aviation much more appealing to the average consumer (Corn, 1979). It is now the case that for young people, flying is looked upon as an exciting experience, one that takes them out of the ordinary into the realm of the extraordinary -- so that they are kindred spirits of Amelia -- the pioneer woman in aviation and history.

Thus, flying is made "thinkable" because of brands like Amelia Earhart, who are used to cultivate an image in the mind of the consumer. Hollywood, which is like the advertising wing of business and government (one need only see the string of Hollywood movies in recent years extolling the role of military agencies to understand this point), helps to create the myth that is Amelia Earhart and to inspire a whole new generation of consumers to want to fly in aircraft.

As Corn (1979) notes, "Women's place in commercial aviation in the late 1920s and 1930s stemmed from the peculiar needs of an industry in transition ... the aviation industry had a serious problem. The public remained deeply skeptical about flight" (p. 558). Thus, Earhart was essentially manufactured, just like today's young celebrity musicians are manufactured, in order to promote the idea of flying to a consumer public that was reluctant to "climb on board" with the idea. Flying was still viewed as dangerous. However, if a woman could do it, then those fears would be alleviated! And flying could go from a fearful experience to an exhilarating one -- one that progressive individuals could get behind, because in the skies, if not on the ground, all were equal and the same.

The website ameliaerhart.com continues to advocate for this story of Amelia Earhart and her inspiring narrative. The trailer helps to support the narrative and the songs at the bottom of the homepage drive home with an emotional impact the depth to which we are supposed to love Amelia and be proud of our aviation industry which embraced this female pilot who proved American Exceptionalism by circumnavigating the globe in a solo flight. Images, stories, and songs like those posted on the site contribute to the way consumers think about flying and, of course, make flying "thinkable" -- although in today's world of terror bombings, where planes seem to be blowing up in the skies every other month or simply vanishing over the ocean for unknown reasons (see, Ukraine, Egypt, Malaysia), one wonders how effective the campaign can be anymore. Is Amelia Earhart enough to calm the very real fears these terrorist acts impose on the flying public? Probably not -- but then again, flying has become so ingrained in modern affairs that the need to get from one place to the next as quickly as possible most likely outweighs most of the fears that bombings provoke. Not everyone will be calmed, of course, by the sheer fact of necessity -- and I doubt that anyone is really as inspired by Amelia today as they were fifty years ago. Nonetheless, the images, videos and songs work together to "sell" the narrative to the public -- and like any good commercial, it ultimately gets consumers to buy into the brand, which in this case is aviation.