Frontier's Jet Critters Compete in News Ad Campaign

Get ready for animals slinging mud.

Frontier Airlines will launch a new local advertising campaign Sunday in which five of its popular "spokesanimals" will compete for the title of "Denver's Favorite Animal."

The first TV ad, which will air during Sunday's football playoff games, pits the animals against one another.

The campaign was created by New York ad agency Grey Worldwide. It is modeled after last winter's successful "Send Flip to Mexico" ads, which helped the airline boost traffic on its Mexico flights after Hurricane Wilma.

"Last year, we had a little bit of an uprising with Flip, and now we're having some issues again," Frontier spokesman Joe Hodas said. "I think you're going to see a pretty fierce battle."

Denver-based Frontier has been successful in using the animal pitchmen to create brand awareness, said John Burnett, a University of Denver marketing professor.

"They're still leveraging the thing that the consumer knows best about them, which is the fact that they have these animals on their planes," he said.

Driving traffic to the Web fits with Frontier's strategy to reduce costs by growing the number of tickets purchased online.

In August, the company said it wanted to increase the percentage of tickets booked on its website to 50 percent by March.

"Anything that drives consumers to the key product is a good thing," Burnett said. The issue is whether online voters will also buy plane tickets.

The favorite-animal campaign will wrap up near Super Bowl Sunday, said Hodas. The company does plan to advertise locally during the Feb. 4 game but is not paying the $2.6 million necessary for a 30-second national spot.

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