Editing United Airlines (section)

=== Corporate identity ===
==== Brand image ====
{{See also|History of United Airlines#Brand history|l1=United Airlines brand history}}
The pre-merger United logo, commonly nicknamed the "tulip", was developed in the early 1970s by the designer [[Saul Bass]] as part of a new brand image.<ref name="Mouawad2" /> The logo represented the airline's monogram as well as a modernized version of the airline's shield logo<ref>{{Cite web |title=Fifteen Years of Flying United |url=http://new.pentagram.com/2011/03/fifteen-years-of-flying-united-1 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140503235828/http://new.pentagram.com/2011/03/fifteen-years-of-flying-united-1/ |archive-date=May 3, 2014 |access-date=April 27, 2014 |website=Pentagram.com}}</ref> which had been adopted in the 1930s, but fell out of use by the late 1960s. The ribbon-like rendering has also been said to symbolize the motion of flight.<ref>{{Cite web |title=How Saul Bass changed design |url=http://www.csmonitor.com/Innovation/Tech-Culture/2013/0508/How-Saul-Bass-changed-design |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140423125120/http://www.csmonitor.com/Innovation/Tech-Culture/2013/0508/How-Saul-Bass-changed-design |archive-date=April 23, 2014 |access-date=April 27, 2014 |website=Csmonitor.com}}</ref> In 2010, United announced they would be merging with [[Continental Airlines]] and as a result, the combined airline would keep the United name but discontinue using the tulip logo and use the [[Continental Airlines]] "[[globe]]" identity and livery instead, designed in 1991 by the [[Lippincott (brand consultancy)|Lippincott]] company.<ref name="Mouawad2"/>

==== Marketing themes ====
{{Further|History of United Airlines#Slogans}}
United's earliest slogan, "The Main Line Airway", emphasized its signature New York-Chicago-San Francisco route, and was replaced in 1965 with "Fly the Friendly Skies", which was in use until 1996 in its first iteration.<ref name="nyt20130920">{{Cite news |last=Levere |first=Jane L. |date=September 20, 2013 |title=Old Slogan Returns as United Asserts It Is Customer-Focused |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/20/business/media/old-slogan-returns-as-united-asserts-it-is-customer-focused.html |url-status=live |access-date=February 20, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170311202108/http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/20/business/media/old-slogan-returns-as-united-asserts-it-is-customer-focused.html |archive-date=March 11, 2017}}</ref> The "It's time to fly" slogan was created in 2004. After the merger of United and Continental in October 2010, the slogan changed to "Let's fly together" until September 2013,<ref name=nyt20130920 /> when United announced a return of the "Fly the Friendly Skies" slogan in an ad campaign to start the following day.<ref name="frequentbusinesstraveler.com">{{Cite web |title=United Plans Return to the "Friendly Skies" |url=http://www.frequentbusinesstraveler.com/2013/09/united-plans-return-to-the-friendly-skies/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150403131755/http://www.frequentbusinesstraveler.com/2013/09/united-plans-return-to-the-friendly-skies/ |archive-date=April 3, 2015 |access-date=April 3, 2015 |website=frequentbusinesstraveler.com}}</ref> The resurrected slogan would be accompanied by the 1924 [[George Gershwin]] song "[[Rhapsody in Blue]]" as its theme song, and a voiceover provided by [[Matt Damon]].<ref name=nyt20130920 />

United had licensed its theme song, "Rhapsody in Blue", from Gershwin's estate for {{US$|500000|1976}} in 1976.<ref>{{cite court |litigants=[[Eldred v. Ashcroft]] |vol=01 |reporter=U.S. |opinion=618 |pinpoint=p. 67 |court=Supreme Court |date=January 15, 2003 |url=http://www.copyright.gov/docs/eldrdedo.pdf |quote=Even the $500,000 that United Airlines has had to pay for the right to play George Gershwin's 1924 classic ''Rhapsody in Blue'' represents a cost of doing business, potentially reflected in the ticket prices of those who fly. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190430032440/https://www.copyright.gov/docs/eldrdedo.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> "Rhapsody" would have entered the [[public domain]] in 2000, but the [[Copyright Term Extension Act]] of 1998 extended its copyright another 20 years until January 1, 2020, when it officially entered on the Public Domain.<ref>{{Cite web |date=December 30, 2019 |title=1924 Copyrighted Works To Become Part Of The Public Domain |url=https://www.npr.org/2019/12/30/792302139/1924-copyrighted-works-to-become-part-of-the-public-domain |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200308072648/https://www.npr.org/2019/12/30/792302139/1924-copyrighted-works-to-become-part-of-the-public-domain |archive-date=March 8, 2020 |access-date=January 1, 2020 |publisher=[[NPR]] |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Public Domain Day 2020 |url=https://web.law.duke.edu/cspd/publicdomainday/2020/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200226055435/https://web.law.duke.edu/cspd/publicdomainday/2020/ |archive-date=February 26, 2020 |access-date=January 1, 2020 |publisher=Duke Law School's [[Center for the Study of the Public Domain]] |language=en}}</ref>
United announced that it would continue to use "Rhapsody in Blue" as its theme song following the merger with Continental.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Rosenthal |first=Phil |date=January 8, 2012 |title='Rhapsody' remains familiar refrain at United |work=[[Chicago Tribune]] |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-xpm-2012-01-08-ct-biz-0108-phil-20120108-story.htmlhttps://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-xpm-2012-01-08-ct-biz-0108-phil-20120108-story.html |url-status=live |access-date=2023-10-31 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180729141439/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-01-08/business/ct-biz-0108-phil--20120108_1_gershwin-music-rhapsody-ira-gershwin |archive-date=July 29, 2018}}</ref>