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January 26, 2020 - by Rob Walker for marker.medium.com

• Inside the loathed company that defies every rule of branding—and logic

Last month, Spirit Airlines unveiled a new and improved cabin design. Naturally, a carrier touting its revamped passenger experience hopes for media attention — but maybe not from The Daily Show.

Alas, host Trevor Noah has made Spirit a recurring punchline, reveling in the ultra-low-cost carrier's bargain-basement reputation.

It's so easy to make fun of Spirit (which Noah acknowledged is the show's "favorite airline" for precisely this reason) that the segment about the cabin improvements barely even contained actual jokes. Mostly, Noah and his audience just laughed at the very notion of Spirit doing a better job at anything. "A full-sized tray table is a weird thing to brag about," he said. "But on the bright side, now you have room for the meal they don't give you!"

This is probably not fair to Spirit. But comedy isn't fair — and neither is the way brand reputations get forged in the real world, where marketing campaigns and happy product announcements are not the only factors in play.

And it's not just The Daily Show (or Saturday Night Live or Late Night or any of the other shows that have mocked Spirit). Even in the context of air travel, a category that bristles with consumer umbrage, Spirit has a shabby brand — perceived by many as a bare-bones option of last resort, like some kind of flying Waffle House.

But here's the real punchline: The airline also happens to be a success...

Read more https://marker.medium.com/if-everyone-hates-spirit-airlines-how-is-it-making-so-much-money-8c7d13472352