Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen gives SkyMall a shoutout

July 10, 7:38 PMRaleigh Pop Culture ExaminerJenna Trunzo

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(AP Photo/Delta Air Lines, James Morgan)

“Keep working or you won’t get your Christmas bonus! You want to be able to afford those new teeth you saw in SkyMall, right?”
- John Turturro’s character in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

Casual, almost unheard, one-liners in commercial catalysts like this blockbuster help keep companies and products relevant to today’s consumers. One line out of a 2.5 hour screenplay, and suddenly, SkyMall seems like it should be the next bookmark in your Favorites list.

SkyMall, founded in 1990, has elevated the idea of consumer accessibility to a whole other level, literally. Online shopping seems ubiquitous enough, what with our Smartphones keeping us connected, but let’s say there is a scenario where you can’t access the Internet, can’t physically make it to a store, and desperately need to satisfy your spending addiction… Say you’re on an airplane, for example. That’s where the SkyMall catalog comes in.

If you have flown anywhere within the past two decades, chances are good that you’ve encountered this catalog. After first adjusting your air vent and then not so subtly establishing your personal space with the person sitting next to you, it’s inevitable that you will find yourself flipping through the SkyMall catalog. Usually located in the back pocket of the seat in front of you, you’ll find page after page of unnecessary and bazaar items for purchase. The name, SkyMall, has become synonymous with gadgets that give the impression they were created in a retired man’s garage (“You know what would be really useful…? Where’s my hammer?”) or in an inventor’s basement (“Hmmm. I wonder what will happen if I connect my toilet flusher to a disco ball?”).

What is so enticing that you need to order it while flying 30,000 feet in the air? Well, maybe in your travels you realized you can’t live without the Nano UV Disinfection Scanner. Or maybe, just maybe, your interior design needs can only be met while flying at high altitudes. Enter the Basho the Sumo Wrestler Table. It’s not surprising that you may have comfortable pillows, back massagers, or blankets on your mind, maybe even a cool new electronic device, but at what point do you decide you simply can’t land without the purchase of Lawn Aerator Sandals?

The company CEO is a marketing genius really. Essentially, SkyMall is putting products in front of every air travelling consumer, where they are literally a captive audience for the length of their flight. According to the SkyMall website, “the SkyMall catalog is seen by approximately 88% of all domestic air passengers reaching more than 650 million air travelers annually.”

SkyMall’s quirky products and supreme accessibility has helped to secure its notch in consumerism. And let’s face it, being mentioned in a movie that exceeds $300 million in sales doesn’t hurt the marketing plan either! 

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