|
Billboards “Found” for Lost Airline
Drivers along Interstate 40 in West Knoxville, Tennessee, recently found themselves reading about Oceanic Airlines resuming “service” to their area. According to Knox News, the “teaser” billboard is one of a series of nine outdoor advertisements posted in other cities where the fictitious airline is also being advertised.
The billboard campaign features the mysterious phrase “Find815.com” scrawled over the image of a perky flight attendant. Actually the message isn’t too mysterious if you’re a fan of the hit ABC-TV television series Lost. The show follows the mystifying and brain-teasing island adventures of survivors from the crash of Sydney-to-Los Angeles-bound Oceanic Flight 815.
McGhee Tyson Airport spokeswoman Beth Baker told Knox News in January that the airport has received no calls inquiring if a new airline is coming to Knoxville's airport. “There was a ‘press release’ issued last week where we discovered that named Knoxville was one of nine cities that fictitious Oceanic would begin serving,” said Baker. “I was surprised to also see a billboard. My best guess, being a fan of the show, is that the character Sawyer's tie to Knoxville is why we were chosen to be one of the cities. All of the nine cities have ties to characters’ pasts.” (Note: In the series, con artist Sawyer claimed Knoxville as his hometown.)
The other Oceanic Airline markets resuming service that were announced in the press release included: Los Angeles, California; Tustin, California; Ames, Iowa; Miami, Florida; New York City, New York; Portland, Oregon; Seoul, South Korea; and Sydney, Australia. All are locations that have figured in the series mythology—whether through flashbacks or flash-forwards.
The mysterious billboard should prove as no surprise to fans of the show. Series producers have long used “viral” campaigns to promote the show, including novels and Web sites. In fact, artists added Oceanic Airline billboards and taxitop ads in the backgrounds of select Marvel Comics titles during the month of February.
Lost returned for its Writer’s Strike-shortened fourth season on January 31, 2008 (replacing the repeats of Grey’s Anatomy), which may explain the timing of the billboards.
Interestingly Oceanic Airlines has served as an industry in-joke as the entertainment airline choice of passengers in peril and air emergencies. The airline was featured prominently in the 1996 Kurt Russell film Executive Decision, as well as the 2003 television movie Code 11-14 (which, oddly enough, featured an FBI agent searching for a killer on Flight 816 from Sydney to Los Angeles).
—Lori Andreozzi
|
