The latest Philippine Airlines safety video has gone viral, racking up more than 5 million views.
But is it solving the right problem?
The video centres on a love story, weaving safety instructions into moments of high drama. For instance, oxygen masks dropping from the ceiling of a church when a wedding is interrupted by the brideās true love.
As story-driven safety videos go, itās probably the best of its kind.
And thatās exactly my concern.
Will it capture peopleās attention at the start of a flight? Yes.
Has it engaged peopleās attention before they even board? Clearly, yes.
But will people remember what to do in an actual emergency?
I doubt it.
Because the context is completely different.
We watch these videos in a cold state: weāre calm, relaxed, and cognitively open. Everything is normal.
When something goes wrong on a flight, weāre in a hot state: panicked, stressed, overloaded. Everything is chaos.
What we know from behavioural science is that learning in a cold state doesnāt reliably transfer to action in a hot one, especially when the cues, environment, and emotional load are entirely different.
So while videos like this are great for educating people about routine behaviours ā where to stow bags, how to handle batteries, when to fasten seatbelts ā they leave a critical gap when it comes to emergency behaviour.
That gap is why we still see passengers evacuating with shoes on, grabbing personal belongings, and slowing down exits despite having āseen the videoā.
Iām sure this campaign will win awards. People will share it. Other airlines will take notes and follow suit.
And if the goal is improving rule adherence during normal flight conditions, this kind of education absolutely has value.
But the real unsolved problem is different.
When are we going to design safety communication that works in a hot state ā that drives process adherence under panic, not just awareness under calm?
Because thatās where safety is actually won or lost.
P.S. Instead of posting every weekday, I plan on sending you ideas on behavioural science every Monday, Wednesday and Friday this year. Thanks for being a subscriber :)
š If you found this interesting, let me know! Buy me a virtual coffee ā or forward this email āļø to someone who also might like it. Your occasional support means I can keep sharing ideas about behavioural science for free.
š§ Learn the science of Influencing Action
Hey, are we connected yet?
