The Boeing 707 sales campaign included a film
shown to airline customers titled “Operation Guillotine.” The film was of tests conducted by Boeing that showed a conventional, fully pressurized airplane fuselage being pierced by two metal blades, resulting
in a catastrophic failure and disintegration of the structure. Next, the 707 fuselage
was put to the same test; this time five blades pierced the pressurized fuselage, resulting in wisps of air escaping from the
punctures—but no cracks and no structural failure.
The company’s efforts successfully built up customer confidence and public expectation for the new plane and for jet travel. The world was anxiously awaiting the 707.