Can I get a seat near the window?

Southwest Airlines has inked a deal with Sports Illustrated and put a picture of their Swimsuit Issue cover model on one of their 737's. Here's a picture:


I think this is good marketing. Unfortunately, some are saying it's "soft porn" and don't appreciate being "forced" to fly on the plane. If they fly on Shamu are they abusing a whale? Don't let PETA know. Hint: here's Shamu:

First of all, give me a break. Second, did we lose all of our sense of humor when we put Obama in the White House? Geez. No one is forcing anyone to fly on that plane. If you don't like it, don't fly on Southwest. Period. The idea that they are being "forced" to fly on that plane is crazy...no one put a gun to their heads and forced them to buy the ticket.

Southwest is based in my hometown - Dallas. They are fantastically successful. Two stories about Southwest for you.

1. When I was in college, we could fly on a student fare from San Antonio to Dallas for $7 each way. Even at 45 cents a gallon for gas, you couldn't drive it for that.

2. Southwest has a long history of great marketing. They cemented their relationship with the travelling salesmen of Texas by offering a free bottle of booze with each flight. Seriously...if you flew during the day, and paid the peak time fare instead of the off-peak fare, you could pick up a bottle of vodka, gin, bourbon, or scotch right in the jetway as you got off the plane. Every businessman in Texas who travelled between Dallas, San Antonio, Austin, and Houston flew on those flights. Later they expanded throughout Texas, including Lubbock and Amarillo, and the rest is history.

Anyway, that was a ramble. But get over the issue of the swimsuit model. Let's worry about how much Obama is going to take us down the tubes...soon you won't be able to fly without getting a permit from Obama showing that Southwest bought carbon offsets. Now THAT'S scary.